Scottish Schools Festival/ Latest CLASP Results

The Scottish Schools Pipes and Trad Music Festival is a new open-air event running from 12th – 15th June in Edinburgh. It is supported by Edinburgh Council, the National Galleries of Scotland and the Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust. There will be over 20 performances from youth pipe bands, ceilidh groups and trad music groups from Edinburgh, Falkirk, Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, and the Highlands. Daytime performances will take place on the…

Piping News from Brittany

As part of the 70th anniversary of the bagad [pipe band] Raoul II of Fougères, a piobaireachd concert was held in the small church of Beaucé, Brittany, writes Clement Gallet. The tunes were very well introduced by Pierre Gallais. He took the time to teach the general history and structure of piobaireachd, as well as introducing each individual tune and piper before they played. Five pipers played, most of them…

Pipe Bands Gear up for Second Major of Season

Forres in Moray will host the British Pipe Band Championship this Saturday, June 8th. The competition is being held in Grant Park, very popular with bands after the successful staging of the European Championships there from 2013-18. The above aerial shot is of that championship and comes courtesy the promoters ‘MacPipingHot Forres’ a partnership between YBD Music Ltd and the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association. The RSPBA report all arrangements…

The ‘Old Men of the Shells’ and a Win for Alastair Murray

The Clan Donald Trust for the Gaelic Performing Arts, together with the Robert Burns Society of Charleston, are pleased to announce that, on 31st May 2024, Alastair Murray won the third annual Joseph MacDonald Memorial Prize for Piobaireachd, writes Major Bruce MacDonald. It is held as part of the Scottish Performing Arts Classic in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. The judge was Jack Lee of Vancouver, British Columbia. Alastair Murray was…

Silver Chanter 2024 Details Announced

The annual recital competition for the Silver Chanter will be held at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Gaelic College, Sleat, Skye, on August 7th at 7.30pm. The Piobaireachd Society is promoting and sponsoring the gala event in association with Torabhaig Single Malt Whisky and Sabhal Mòr. The historic picture below features pipers from one of the first Silver Chanters held in the drawing room of Dunvegan Castle in the late 1960s. Left to right…