Category: Pipe Bands

Editor’s Notebook: Lorient Festival/ Masters of Piobaireachd/ Churchill Pipes/ Melbourne/ Florida

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Thankfully this summer is shaping up to what we had back in the good old days of 2019. Lorient Festival, probably the biggest celtic music festival in the world, have sent their 2022 poster celebrating the ‘Year of Asturias’. The blurb reads: ‘THE PEAKS OF CELTITUDE! [sic] Immerse yourself in the valleys and mountains landscapes of Asturias. A southerly wind is blowing towards Brittany, spreading the warmth of the south…

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WW2 Piping: Stalag 383 Pipe Band and John Wilson, Edinburgh

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Reader Bob Ash has kindly supplied the above photograph. He writes: ‘Here’s a photo of WW2 pipers and drummers in the Stalag 383 PoW Camp. ‘In the middle of the seated front row (4th from left), is my first pipe major, when I played with the 57th RAMC (T.A.) Pipe Band in the 1960s, P/M Bob Hill (Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and Scots Guards) and, also in seated front row…

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Piping In WW2: Prisoners of War Keep their Music Alive

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There was piping activity in the POW camps and this was supported by the pipers on the home front. Piping societies were raising money to send instruments to the prisoners and the monthly magazine Piping and Dancing encouraged readers to write to prisoners.  A member of the College of Piping Veteran’s Association, Sinclair Swanson, remembered his time as a prisoner: ‘My father was a piper in the first war and…

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Pipe Major’s Job for George Watson’s

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One of the most sought after jobs in the pipe band world is now advertised. The new Pipe Major for the award-winning George Watson’s School band will replace P/M Ian Simpson who is retiring after a stellar career leading the juvenile World Championship winners. The spec reads: George Watson’s College wishes to appoint a Pipe Major to be the lead teacher of bagpipes within the Pipe Band. Teaching individual pupils…

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Pipe Band Workshop: What Makes a Good Performance in the Eyes and Ears of Judges?

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As bands prepare for their first season in three years Piping Press will do everything it can help them refresh their knowledge and re-kindle their enthusiasm. This article, by former senior pipe band adjudicator and educator Alistair Aitken, first appeared in Pipe Band Magazine. Accepting that the primary focus of pipe band competition is on musical performance, it is reasonable to expect adjudicators to assess bands against the three main…

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