Wheel of Fortune Contest/ Results from London and South East Mini Bands and Solos

The popular Pipe Major’s Wheel of Fortune competition will be held this Sunday, 21 April, at Danderhall Miners Club, Midlothian, at 12 noon. It is promoted by the City of Edinburgh Pipe Band. Admission is £15 and £7.50 (under 16). Invited pipers are: Cameron Drummond, Ben Duncan, Craig Muirhead, John Mulhearn, Angus Nicolson, Ciaren Ross, Craig Sutherland and Callum Wynd. Judges are Ian Duncan and Robert Barnes and the audience. Band…

Recordings of P/M RG Hardie from 50 Years Ago

We are very grateful to Jim Barrie in western Canada for forwarding these recordings of Bob Hardie playing at an impromptu recital at the Coeur d’Alene Summer School in Idaho in the early 1970s. Bob went there on several occasions at the invite of the Principal Col. John McEwing and taught with the likes of Andrew Wright, John Wilson, Toronto, John MacAskill, and on one occasion, James Campbell. Bob is…

Alistair G Hanning 1962-2024

After a long hard-fought battle with cancer, Alistair passed away on 9 April aged 62. He was born in Wellington, New Zealand, into the famous Hanning piping family.  Taught by his father, Oban Gold Medallist John, he showed prodigious talent from an early age and was playing and winning prizes in open competition from the age of 16. His talent was further evidenced by the one and only time he competed solo in Scotland in 1980 while participating in the…

Editor’s Notebook: 100 Years of PS Books/ Jimmy McIntosh Scholarship/ Piping Festival

One hundred years ago, in a large house in the Cairngorm woods, the finishing touches were being put to a book which was to alter the course of piping history. Sheriff Iain Grant, Music Committee Secretary for the Piobaireachd Society, was preparing to send off to the printer the first edition of Book 1 in its new collection. This was the Society’s second go at putting together a selection of…

Draw for UK PB Championships/ Dollar Go Ahead/ American PB Championship

The RSPBA have announced the draw for the first major pipe band championship of the season, the UKs at Bangor, Northern Ireland. The Grade 1 draw for the UKs is as follows: 1 Inveraray 2 Johnstone 3 Police Scotland 4 Closkelt 5 Scottish Power 6 Boghall 7 FMM 8 SLOT 9 Shotts 10 Fife Police. Check out other grades here. In a boost for bands, Dundee, Perth and Angus Branch of the association have confirmed…