PP Ed's Blog: South Florida/ Darach & Finlay Hong Kong Trip/ Charles MacLeod Williamson

To the US for some sun at the South Florida Pipe & Drum Academy at Boca Raton. I should have something to report – all good I hope. Around 50 students, 28 for piping with class sizes kept to five or six. This will be our fourth annual school and I think we are beginning to make an impression. Certainly standards improve year on year. Many thanks to our sponsors…

Young Pipers and Drummers Film/ Jack Joins South Florida Academy/ Balmoral Schools Schedule

Organisers of the European Pipe Band Championships ‘Piping at Forres’ are creating a short film featuring young pipers and drummers. The film will include interviews with the under 25s explaining how and why they got involved in a band. The documentary will be used to promote the European Pipe Band Championships which will be held in Forres for the last time in June 2018 after a six-year run in the Moray…

PP Ed’s Blog: Andrew Bonar Appreciation/ World Drumming/ Florida Academy/ Juvenile Contests

Robert MacNeill, SFU band manager and President of the British Columbia Pipers’ Association, has been in touch to inform us of an evening to celebrate the life of Andrew Bonar who died so tragically this week. Robert says: ‘Thank you for your article on Andrew Bonar’s passing. Your inclusion of the thoughts of Terry Lee was very insightful on how Boney was such a magician with music. ‘I remember him…

PP Ed’s Blog: Juvenile Bands/ 277 Pic/ John MacLellan/ Archie Kenneth/ Florida

I’m told that there a few juvenile and novice juvenile pipe bands who are considering not playing in these grades. They cannot compete against the highly organised and well-financed teaching programmes at some of the private school bands and therefore, rather than opt for a hiding every weekend, may decide to take their chances in the adult grades such as 4a and 4b. If this is the case then we…

PP Editor’s New Year Blog: the Official Honours List for 2016/ Wheel of Fortune/ South Florida

All the best for 2017 to all our readers and advertisers and thank you for making the past year such a success for Piping Press. We are now approaching our one millionth view since we started in September 2014: 993,651 to be exact, as of today. I believe it has been an outstanding year for piping and for pipe bands and it has been our pleasure to record and report…