New Jack Lee Contest Announced in Canada

The British Columbia Pipers’ Association (BCPA) is thrilled to announce the launch of the Jack Lee Amateur Invitational Piping Competition, writes David Hilder, President. This exciting new annual event will celebrate the art of piobaireachd and showcase the top piping talent in the amateur grades of the Association. The inaugural competition will take place on Saturday, March 28, 2026, at the Seaforth Armoury in Vancouver. This new invitational honours the remarkable…

Editor’s Notebook: 2026 Majors/ RSPBA Fundraising/ Mod Piping/ Lochnell Championship/ Letters

I wonder how the RSPBA are getting on with the planning for next year’s major championships? Will it be five or the three and a half we had this year? Looking back it seems there was confirmation of the Worlds, the Euros, the Scottish and the UKs for 2026. The latter was a bit of a non-event given the date on which it was held (July 12) but the Association…

News from Canada

St Andrew’s College in Ontario, Canada, are looking for a new Director of Piping & Drumming. The full time job begins in August next year. The prospectus reads: Our Pipes & Drums program has been in existence since 1915. With the help of world-renowned piping and drumming teachers, aspiring pipers and drummers can begin their journey at St Andrew’s and graduate with a lifelong hobby of piping or drumming, with…

The Importance of Schools Music Education

In Scotland we have become inured to idiotic statements from well paid public employees and politicians struggling to connect the family brain cell with their vocal cords. This produced another candidate for dunce of the decade last week. In a live-streamed statement the Head of Education at East Ayrshire Council declared her opposition to schools music teaching by stating that she was ‘no [not] really seeing the point of a…

Insights into Pipe Band Ensemble

The study ‘Insights into Pipe Band Ensemble’ is dedicated to improving pipe drum ensemble outcomes in both set and medley competition. With a focus on 2/4 march, strathspey, and reel music, the study follows a basic premise that some MSR pipe tunes are so rhythmically compatible with the music of the competition side drum, that their accompanying drum scores almost write themselves, while other MSR tunes are almost impossible to integrate with…