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Ian K. MacDonald has left the Grade 1 78th Fraser Highlanders to rejoin the Grade 2 Toronto Police. Scott Russell remains pipe-major of the Fraser Highlanders.
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Piping Press has re-run a 2002 Pipe Band Magazine profile of Harry McNulty, who died three weeks ago aged 93. The piece revisits his long career as one of the circuit’s most experienced pipe band judges.
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The Ontario Youth Pipe Band and the PPBSO Ottawa Branch ran a Back 2 School Workshop on 26 September 2026, bringing young pipers and drummers together across Ontario. The gathering featured participants from 11 bands and organisations.
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The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association has elevated Royal Burgh of Annan and Ulster Scottish to Grade 1, taking the number of active top-grade bands to 19. Ulster Scottish, based in Philadelphia, joins St. Thomas Alumni of Houston among the American Grade 1 ranks.
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Registration has opened for the 2027 Florida Pipe and Drum Academy, to be held at Marywood Retreat and Conference Center in St John’s, Florida, near Jacksonville. Chris McKeown is named as director, and the academy is described as an all-inclusive piping and drumming school with instructors from Scotland, the United States and Ireland.
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The Hundred Percent Collective, an all-women pipe band made up of Grade 1 players from around the world, is set to perform for the first time at Festival Presqu’île Breizh.
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Andrew Hayes heads the MSR prize list from the Glengarry Cup in Ottawa on 26 September. Watch the five prizewinning performances in pipes|drums.
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Ulster Scottish and Royal Burgh of Annan move into Grade 1 for 2027. Piping Press also rounds up the junior piping and drumming results from Brechin.
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The RSPBA has confirmed the band regrading changes for the 2027 season after discussion at its Standards & Grading group. The notice sets out which bands move between grades for next year.
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Andrew Hayes of Nepean, Ontario, won the 2026 Glengarry Cup by taking the MSR and placing fourth in Piobaireachd. Colin MacLellan of Edinburgh won the Piobaireachd.
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A 50-year-old Piping Times editorial argues that competition sits at the centre of piping, while reflecting on why the scene is built that way. The piece is presented as a historical look back rather than current news.
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The British Columbia Pipers’ Association has announced its first two competitions of the 2026-27 season: the Fall Mini Gathering on 14 November 2026 and the Winter Mini Gathering on 6 February 2027. Entry deadlines are 26 October 2026 and 1 January 2027.
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