Change of Venue for Piobaireachd Society Conference Following Hotel Fire

The Piobaireachd Society’s Annual Conference has been switched to a new venue following a fire at a hotel in Perth. A blaze in the kitchen has forced the temporary closure of the Royal George Hotel, the home for the conference for the past four years. The new venue for 2026 is the Golden Lion Hotel in Stirling. All arrangements, meals, rooms etc. are as per the Royal George. The conference…

Archie Kenneth Quaich Results & Report

The winner of the 42nd Archie Kenneth Quaich competition was Andrew Robertson from Edinburgh playing the Lament for Donald of Laggan. Andrew is pictured above with the winners’ trophy and banner. The competition is for amateur piobaireachd and is run by the Piobaireachd Society. It was held last Saturday, February 28, in the Royal Scottish Pipers’ Society Rooms in Edinburgh. It attracted an entry of 25. Other prizes: 2 Tom Peterkin (Lament…

Successful Jimmy McIntosh Piobaireachd Workshop

The 4th Jimmy McIntosh MBE Piobaireachd Workshop was held at Carnegie Mellon University last weekend. We had 42 students, including 17 at open level, which we were delighted with, especially because it was solely a piobaireachd event… and held in a very cold Pittsburgh.  The weekend was organised by the Pittsburgh Piping Society. Instructors were all longtime students of Jimmy’s, Northern Meeting Clasp winners Mike Cusack and Nick Hudson (both travelling…

Rare Recording of P/M Donald MacLeod – Part 2

More from maestro P/M Donald MacLeod in these excerpts from the historic recording made at an impromptu recital given in Seattle, WA, in 1955 whilst Donald was on a tour of the western US and Canada. I reckon Donald would have been in his early 30s at the time of the recital. On leaving the Army he joined the firm of Grainger and Campbell in Glasgow with John MacFadyen as…

Rare Recording of Pipe Major Donald MacLeod from 75 Years Ago

We are grateful to Jack Lee of British Columbia, Canada, for forwarding this historic recording of Pipe Major Donald MacLeod, writes the editor. It was made in Seattle, WA, in 1955 whilst Donald was on a tour of the western US and Canada. At the time he was still a serving soldier based at Fort George near at Inverness. As can be heard in the introduction, the recital was impromptu,…