Half a Century on, this Seminal Work on Piobaireachd Continues to Educate and Entertain

By The Editor Fifty-five years ago Seumas MacNeill, then Joint Principal of the College of Piping, began work on a book which was to open a thousand eyes and ears to ceòl mòr. ‘Piobaireachd – Classical Pipe Music of the Great Highland Bagpipe’ was a BBC-commissioned publication. Below is an advert it ran in an October 1968 edition of Radio Times, it listings magazine. It reads: ‘Piobaireachd , the classical…

News from Over the Water – Closkelt Concert/ Ulster Entries Down/ Blackthorn Pipers/ Cleland Celebrate Bunting/ Matt Boyd and Prince Charles

March 26th saw Closkelt Pipe Band take to the stage of the Market Place Theatre in Armagh for a concert promoted by the band. Compère on the night was radio presenter Rab Lennox of ‘Big Rab Show’ and BBC ‘Kintra’ fame. Headlining the show was the host band itself led by Pipe Major David Chesney and new Leading Drummer Brendan McGoran and they gave a glimpse of some of their…

Editor’s Notebook: AG Lochnell Championship/ Capt. John Contest/ Clan Maciver Tune/ Lorient Festival

The Argyllshire Gathering’s Intermediate Championship 2022 will be held at Lochnell Castle near Oban on October 22. Eight leading young professional pipers will be invited to compete for what has already become a sought after title. Last year’s winner, Andrew Ferguson, Dollar Academy, is pictured second left above. Styled after the Glenfiddich Championship for senior pipers, the Lochnell requires a submission of four Piobaireachd and four MSRs the winner in…

Scottish Pipers Association Professional Contest 2022 Entries Open

We are delighted to announce that entries for the 2022 SPA Professional Contest, held in person on the 30th of April 2022 are now open, writes President Logan Tannock. Entries for each event will be strictly limited to 20 competitors so we recommend early registrations to guarantee your place. All entrants will need to create a membership on the SPA Website, and life members should contact gary.nimmo@scottishpipersassociation.co.uk to process their online membership….

Editor’s Notebook: Lochaber/ Bessie MacKinnon/ Henderson Pipes/ SPA Professional

Occasionally we must extract a negative from what was clearly a happy, successful event. I refer to the Lochaber Junior Piping competition held last Saturday in Fort William. Yet again we saw very few pipers or drummers from the local schools coming forward to take part. Why is this? There is a full time piping tutor in Lochaber (for the past 20 years anyway) and I believe he/she has a…