Preview of Third Annual Virginia International Tattoo American Pipe Band Championship

Organisers have sent this press release…….The Virginia International Tattoo is pleased to announce that 10 bands are registered to compete in the 2018 Virginia International Tattoo American Pipe Band Championship. The third annual event will take place on Saturday, April 28 at Scope Arena (above) in Norfolk, Virginia, and is open to Grade 2 and Grade 3 pipe bands from around the world. City of Dunedin Pipe Band (Florida) and…

PP Ed’s Blog: Vintage Pipes for Sale/ Dunedin Games/ Lament for the CoP/ NEPADA/ Robert Turner

A very special set of pipes is offered for sale today via our Online Ads service. The instrument pictured above is a vintage bagpipe by Peter Henderson and dated 1904/05. It is in fully engraved silver (no ivory worries) and African blackwood, complete with original pipe chanter. The pipes were made for a Gordon Highlander and have been in the seller’s family for many years. They come complete with wooden…

Australian PB Champs./ Skye Piping Review

On the eve of this year’s Australian Pipe Band Championships, Pipe Bands Australia have announced details of their plans for the 2020 contest, their Diamond Jubilee Year. Forty bands have entered the  2018 championship which take place at the Brisbane Boys Club, Toowong, Queensland, on Saturday, April 7. In the run up to the contest PBA have also instituted a Hall of Fame recognising individuals who have made an outstanding…

Why Ensemble Matters in Pipe Band Adjudication

Having previously contributed a number of articles about pipe band ensemble in the RSPBA’s quarterly magazine when I was an ensemble adjudicator and also deeply involved in adjudicator training, the Editor of Piping Press asked me for my thoughts on a suggestion made recently that it is now perhaps time for this type of adjudication to be abolished due to ineffective adjudication. I am a strong supporter of ensemble adjudication…

British Columbia Pipers’ Association Annual Indoor Meet (Updated)

The British Columbia Pipers’ Association Annual Indoor Meet was held last weekend with much of the day and the awards ceremony livestreamed. This ceremony included a tribute to the late Andrew Bonar and other BC Pipers’ members who had passed on during the year, with members of the pipe corps of the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band performing the whole of Andrew’s Silver Medal winning tune, the piobaireachd ‘I Gave…