PP Editor’s Blog 26/12/14

With only five days to go before we announce our Piper of the Year, another opportunity to make your choice. The pipers, in no particular order, are P/M Stuart Liddell, P/M Douglas Murray and P/M Richard Parkes. Stuart won many top prizes during the year including the Former Winners’ MSR at Oban and the Glenfiddich Championship. His band, Inveraray & District, were runners-up in the Worlds, their highest ever placing….

Happy Festivities from the Editor 2014

It is Christmas Day here in Scotland and if you celebrate this festival I hope you are enjoying yourselves. Thanks to our many thousands of readers the world over who have made the first four months of our not-for-profit web magazine such a success. Our readership figures for the period Aug 25 – December 25 stand at a pleasing 99,975 with a daily average of 700+. We will endeavour to improve…

Formal Announcement on New Judges Committee

MAJOR CHANGES TO JOINT COMMITTEE FOR JUDGING (JCJ) A new organisation, the Solo Piping Judges’ Association (SPJA), has been established to monitor and maintain a list of approved judges deemed capable of adjudicating major solo piping competitions. The SPJA is run and managed exclusively by judges and will liaise closely with the Competing Pipers’ Association. Chairman is Andrew Wright with committee members comprising Dr Jack Taylor (Secretary), Colin MacLellan and Ronnie McShannon. A…

PP Editor’s Blog 19/12/14

Well done to the RSPBA Northern Ireland Branch for supporting the campaign to resist cuts to the arts and culture budget in the Province. As they say, what else can you get for 13p, the estimate of what the budget costs per head of the population. Arts Council Northern Ireland make a big contribution to the pipe band movement in Ulster, and good on them for that. Our arts body,…

New Piping and Drumming School for Florida

A  new school of piping and drumming will take place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, next March. The press release reads: Are you a piper or drummer looking for a break from a cold winter and an opportunity to improve your skills? Does some serious fun in the sun working on the music you love sound an attractive proposition? If so the South Florida Pipe and Drum Academy is for you….