Piping Press

Our correspondent MacStig dug out his old motor car, braved the early snow and got over to yesterday’s Scottish Schools Pipe Band contest. His report tells us he is stretching those legs, sharpening the pen and is all set for the new outdoor season……..  By arriving in Livingston before 9am on a Sunday morning, and trying in vain to find a nearby coffee vendor in what is a town of…

The World Pipe Band Championship is to remain a two-day event. After considering all the feedback they have received, the Board of Directors of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association made the decision at a meeting before yesterday’s AGM in Glasgow. Specific arrangements for this year’s championship will be reviewed by the Association’s Music Board and ratified at a Board of Directors meeting in May. The Music Board will have…

The RSPBA AGM was held in Glasgow today with representatives from 37 member bands attending. After a delayed start (10.30am), President George Ussher welcomed everyone to the meeting in the elegant Trades Hall and presented a Honorary Life Membership to Mrs Vi McMorran for her long service to the Association as a results compiler (see picture below). Mr Ussher then handed proceedings over to Chairman John Hughes. Mr Hughes thanked…

By the Editor I have heard a rumour that Perth Highland Games have excised all solo piping competitions from their programme for 2019. If this is the case, and I have no reason at the moment to doubt my information, it is another worrying blow to our Highland games tradition. I have contacted Perth Games Committee seeking confirmation, or as I sincerely hope, contradiction. However the Perth Games website has…

To the BBC for a ‘Pipeline’ interview ostensibly about the forthcoming Piobaireachd Society Conference. First time I had been in their Pacific Quay HQ in Glasgow and very impressive it is too. That said, it lacks some of the homely feel of Queen Maggie Drive in the west end and that warren of studios known to so many pipers and pipe bands over the years. Interviewer Gary West tells me…