PP Ed’s Blog: Pipe Band Anger/ PB Mag/ Braemar/ SPA/ Dunedin/ Letters

Apart from running Pipe Band Magazine for the RSPBA and reporting on competitions, I have no direct involvement in the pipe band competition milieu. I am essentially on the periphery – the best place for the fourth estate in that fraught world. It was not always so given that I learned piping via the pipe band system in the Boys Brigade and later graduated to Muirhead & Sons at age…

Latest Edition Pipe Band Magazine/ Preview of Dunedin Games, Florida

The new edition of Pipe Band Magazine, the official publication of the RSPBA, will be available this weekend. Features include: Know Your Judges: Adjudicator Tony Sloane talks of the Worlds, band music, his favourite bands and what he’s looking for. All Our Yesterdays: Wallacestone & District one of our oldest pipe bands with some super pix. Analysis: Alistair Aitken looks at the vexed question of adjudicator positions and band formation…

100 Guineas Solo Contest, South Africa

Nicholas Taitz reports: The overall results for the Senior 100 Guineas solo piping competition, held this weekend in Johannesburg, were as follows: Chris Terry Tom Fuller David Mason Nicholas Taitz Chris Terry (pictured above competing) made a memorable and remarkable comeback, winning the piobaireachd and dominating the light music too. He played the Lament for Donald Duaghal MacKay, a favourite tune of his, on an immaculate and quite magical bagpipe. Chris…

PP Ed’s Blog: Schools Poll/ Gordon’s Recital/ SPA Pro/ Piob Soc Conf/ Barnaby

The result of our poll into the suitability or otherwise of the new venue for the Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championship were as follows:  Some heart for the organisers if we amalgamate the two bottom stats: 41% think it okay or are prepared to give it another go. The majority however were clearly not happy. Read about the 2017 contest here. The picture up top shows the main winners, George…

London Society Contest and Results/ Bratach Update/ Rab Kelly

President Andrew Hall of the Scottish Piping Society of London reports: I see Harry Stevenson my tutor from back home popped up on the news feed.  Harry started me on my first piobaireachd, Glengarry’s Lament, in 1988.  I went to him for lessons until I left Northern Ireland in 1994. I thought you and your readers might be interested in a summary from our most recent event at the SPSL. On Saturday…