The 54th Silver Chanter contest/ recital was held in Glasgow for the third time this evening as part of a truncated Piping Live festival. The venue was the National Piping Centre in McPhater Street, Cowcaddens. The contest is sponsored by the William Grant Foundation. The contest was unique in that there was no audience other than on ‘pay per view’ livestream over the internet. However all other aspects of the…
Finlay Johnston has posted the following on his Facebook site: ‘Dad’s funeral will be on Wednesday 12th at Dalnotter Crematorium, 11.30am. Sadly we’re restricted to 20 people so have had to keep it to close family only. People are welcome to gather near the crematorium entrance to pay their respects.‘
By The Editor A week on Saturday the RSPBA Music Board is hosting a meeting of all Grade 1 pipe majors and leading drummers. The main topic for discussion in what is billed as a ‘ground-breaking event‘ is the future of the pipe band medley. The current shutdown has afforded an opportunity for those at the top of the movement to get off the treadmill, think outside the box, go…
By Robert Wallace It is with sincere regret that I report the passing of Tommy Johnston, one of the great characters of pipe band drumming and piping, much loved father of Finlay and joint proprietor of world famous reedmaking company Pipe Dreams. Tommy passed away in hospital last night after a short illness aged only 65. His loss will be felt by all who knew him and his hundreds of…
By Robert Wallace There were a few points I missed in my ‘nightmare scenario’ comments last week. The first is the plight of our bagpipe making/ Highland supplies industry. Orders are slowing. Without pipe band competition, and to a lesser extent solo contests, the future does not look good. The blow to these companies is being offset at the moment by the UK government’s furlough scheme which guarantees 80% of…
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