On the eve of this year’s Australian Pipe Band Championships, Pipe Bands Australia have announced details of their plans for the 2020 contest, their Diamond Jubilee Year. Forty bands have entered the 2018 championship which take place at the Brisbane Boys Club, Toowong, Queensland, on Saturday, April 7. In the run up to the contest PBA have also instituted a Hall of Fame recognising individuals who have made an outstanding…
The highlight of the 45th annual Piobaireachd Society Conference was, for me, the talk given by John Shone. John has been a faithful at the conference for decades and in a cosily busy room at the Birnam Hotel late on Saturday he regaled us with tunes and tales of his teachers. What a list. From beginnings in the Croydon BB there were lessons from JB Robertson, Donald MacPherson, Bob Nicol,…
Wherever it is he goes to ‘find himself’ over the winter, our rantin’, rovin’ reporter MacStig has returned refreshed. He says the harder he looked inwards the less he found. The sun tan suggests the destination was more Western Isles than West Palm Beach. Maybe he forgot to remove the glen g/ crash hat combo, but hey, let’s just say welcome back. Time to get writin’………….. Spring, Easter, daffodils, sun (sometimes)…
From our Juvenile Grade correspondent…….With almost 100 band performances across eight competition segments, it was a full pattern and a very positive sight to behold. Band members hustling and bustling along corridors from their respective warm up rooms to final tuning and three performance spaces. A wide spread of Grade 1 superstars coaching their charges and, in amongst those last minute alterations, tuning, coaching and the general buzz, many readers…
By Peter McCalister This was a smaller contest than previous due to severe snow on the day and the two days before. We had 25 pipers initially on the list and on the day 13 appeared. Those included pipers from the USA, Germany, and the frozen West of Scotland. A lot of effort was made to attend in these difficult circumstances – so thanks go to all of them,…
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