Category: Tuition

New Zealand Pipe Band Championships Attracts Record Entry – Juvenile Grade Largest in World

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Fifty-two bands will take part in next month’s New Zealand Pipe Band Championships making it the largest pipe band competition event outside of Europe. ‘Having so many bands attend the ‘Nationals’ is a testament to the hard work of teaching organisations and bands throughout the southern hemisphere,’ said RNZPBA President Iain Blakeley.  Current New Zealand Pipe Band champions are:  Mr Blakeley went on: ‘Bands from across Australia and New Zealand will…

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Can you Help Identify this Piobaireachd Player?

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Breton piper Youn Pensec has written from France: ‘I want your help for my search about an old  piper. I have numbered old recordings on wide band tape made about 1960 by a lover of piobaireachd in my bagad (Auray). ‘The recordings were given to me by a friend with no name of the piper or the tunes. I have recognised Pass of Crieff, Patrig Og, Viscount of Dundee, Battle…

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Editor’s Notebook: Feedback from Judges/ Pipe Band Championships/ Metro Amateurs/ Angus Recital/ U&B and Oban Festival Dates

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The points raised in our discussion on accountability of judges are important. All pipers deserve to know why, after all their hard work, they did or did not make a prize list. Senior adjudicators should be prepared to write crit sheets, even if they are reticent about writing articles. Not everyone has the required literary skill. There is also this letter from New Zealander Graeme Glass: ‘I had such a…

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Juggernaut Pipe Bands – Readers Reply

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Response to the comments by David Cross earlier this week on this subject have been broadly favourable. Looking at all of the views since this subject was aired on Piping Press several weeks ago, the broad consensus is that the RSPBA needs to act. Pruning the sizes of the mega bands would be of benefit to the broader movement. We are disappointed that some readers are afraid to put their…

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Rankin Pipers Memorial Cairn Unveiled on Mull

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Kilbrennan on the island of Mull is the place where the Rankin pipers lived and taught the pipes from around 1700 to 1800. They had their own College of Piping where someone could live and learn, staying until they mastered the art. The Clan Maclean Heritage Trust erected the cairn pictured above in memory of these Rankin pipers. The Rankins are affiliated to the Clan Maclean and were, in their…

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