Congratulations to Dave Mason on winning the John Cruickshank VC composing competition. I think his tune is one that will be played and thus serve the memory of a true war hero. It was a very difficult competition to judge made all the easier working with legendary figures such as Ian McLellan, Richard Parkes and Stuart Liddell. On going through the entries one was struck by how difficult it is…

After an unbelievable 2,060 votes, we can proudly announce Culter & District Pipe Band (pictured above top) as our 2019 winners of The High Note! We didn’t expect nearly this many responses but goes to show how hungry these bands were for this type of teaching platform. The Grade 4 Culter & District pipe band was formed in 1983 and is based in Peterculter, Aberdeen. The band is linked closely…

Mr Dave Mason, of South Africa and Cincinatti, USA, has been declared the winner of the composing competition for a tune to commemorate World War 2 flying hero John Cruickshank VC. Mr Mason receives £1,000. The competition was for a suitable march to mark the life and valour of Mr Cruickshank VC of Aberdeen. Read more about his incredible bravery here. The competiton was sponsored by the Royal Northern and…

The PP archive has an old cassette copy of the Masters of Piping programme Seumas MacNeill did on P/M Willie Ross for BBC Radio Scotland. Click this link and scroll down to ‘Seumas MacNeill’ to listen. This historic recording features the playing of John Burgess with short interviews with Duncan Cameron, Islay, Ed Esson, Vancouver, DR MacLennan, Angus MacAulay, South Uist, and John Burgess. A wide array of P/M Ross’s…

By Duncan Watson With 60 to 70 pipers qualified to enter Silver Medal competitions and only 30 or less to be accepted, it follows that around 40 will be denied the opportunity of playing, assuming they all wish to take part. Has this log jam been a failure of the previously applied grading criteria? Are there really that many pipers of suitable standard to enter SM competitions?  The recent announcement…