RSPBA Chief Executive Standing Down But Good News Coming on Majors/ John Hughes Funeral

Colin Mulhern, Chief Executive of the RSPBA, has tendered his resignation after only four years. However, Mr Mulhern has agreed to stay on in his job until a replacement can be found. The news is a blow to the Association coming as it does on top of the sudden death of Vice Chairman John Hughes only two weeks ago*. By the Editor But the good news for the bands, and…

Lochaber Piping Society/ Scots Guards KO/ Piobaireachd Society Conference

Lochaber Piping Society held its AGM recently, writes Ken Cameron, Chairman. We retain the talented team of volunteers who have successfully organised our programme over the past few years, including our Junior Piping and Drumming Competition held in late March, and the Lochaber Gathering held in late August. In addition, we have held popular recitals. Considering that the core at the heart of the Society consists of so few, the…

£500 for Winner of NZ Piobaireachd Composing Competition

As Piping Press readers may know, Comunn na Piobaireachd (CNP) NZ is running a competition for the composition of ceòl mòr. Entries are open from anywhere in the world. We want to put out one more round of publicity before entries close on February 29th. The full title of the competition is the Sir Ian and Neville McKay Piobaireachd Composing Competition. Ian (top) and his brother Neville are pictured in the poster…

Editor’s Notebook: Piping Reports/ Pipers Persuasion/ Talk Piobaireachd/ Florida School/ Military Music

Don’t you like reading about the piping heroes of the past? I certainly do. Yet as I wrote this week, media reports on our solo and band competitions are practically extinct, a dying art. Sure, you can search online and you’ll find the ‘results-and-everything-was-great’ type of article from, say, the Glenfiddich Championship, but no real opinion-based comment journalism. We used to have a piping correspondent for the Oban Times, the…

Niall Stewart Recital/ Donald MacLeod Memorial/ Scottish Pipers Professional

Double Gold medallist Niall Stewart (pictured) is in recital at the Lewis & Harris Piping Society tomorrow evening, January 26. The concert is in the in the Caladh Hotel, Stornoway, at 7.30pm. Niall has been the schools piping tutor for South Skye and Lochalsh for several years. He was originally taught by John Burgess. Niall has won most of the top awards in piping including the Gold Medals at the…