Editor’s Notebook: Worlds All Set/ Gold Medal Hero/ Island Bands Plea/ Lonach Axemen

Well who’s your money on? Boghall, Inveraray and Field Marshal have one major each this season. SFU were brilliant by all accounts the other evening. If SLOT up their game they could figure, as could the Power. And don’t rule out Shotts taking the top prize. Remember when Ryan Canning surprised everyone not so very long ago? One thing is sure, after four legs and the opinions of 16 judges,…

Blue MacMurchie’s Extensive Collection of Piping Artefacts For Sale/ New Interviews on Pipers’ Persuasion

After making pipes for 25 years in  West Calder, West Lothian, MacMurchie Bagpipes is re-locating to nearby Kirknewton, writes Blue MacMurchie. It’s a move of eight miles to where our business started. The move will be done over a few months. For three generations the family has collected more piping memorabilia than you can poke a stick at. With the pending move it now comes time to downsize this collection. It includes pipes,…

Northern Ireland Pipe Band Round Up

All-Ireland Pipe Band Championships: The spacious grounds of Ballymena Academy were the venue for Ireland’s premier pipe band competition which took place on Saturday 1st July. The weather was ever changing but never cold. The popularity and importance of this competition to the pipe band fraternity on the island of Ireland was illustrated by a large attendance as friendships were made or renewed around the arenas and tuning areas. The variable…

Draw Announced for 2023 Northern Meeting

The world’s top pipers will gather in the capital of the Highlands, Inverness, on August 31 and September 1 for the prestigious Northern Meeting solo piping competitions. Over 120 pipers have been selected to play. The venue is the comfortable Eden Court Theatre on the banks of the River Ness. Day 1 is given over to the Gold and Silver Medals and the ‘A’ Grade March, Strathspey and Reel, with…

Review: Classical Pipe Music, Scotland’s Hidden Treasure

Piobaireachd players are rare amongst classical musicians in that their entire performing career consists mainly of playing in competitions.  Those playing other instruments may compete as they hone their skills. Thereafter they perform in concerts and recitals. The Piobaireachd Society’s “Classical Pipe Music, Scotland’s Hidden Treasure” recital gives the best piobaireachd players the experience of performing as musicians in other disciplines do.  It also gives those outside piping’s small world the chance…