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Matt MacIsaac is the focus of a new interview about The MacIsaac Collection – Volume 1 and the way he approaches composing. The piece also offers advice aimed at pipers and pipe band drummers who want to write original music.
Read the original ↗Jeannie Campbell MBE continues her historical research series on piping and pipers in Dundee in the 1800s.
Read the original ↗Entries open on 27 October for the Scottish Pipers’ Association’s annual Juvenile Solo Piping Competition in Glasgow on 5 December. Young pipers will compete in age categories for piobaireachd, light music and a four-part event.
Read the original ↗Entries for the Scottish Pipers’ Association juvenile competition go live at 19:00 on 27 October. The competition itself is set for 5 December at the National Piping Centre on Otago Street.
Read the original ↗Brodie Watson-Massey reviews The MacIsaac Collection of Pipe Music Volume 1, compiled, edited and published by Matt MacIsaac. The book gathers 75 compositions and arrangements and is available in print-plus-pdf or pdf-only editions.
Read the original ↗Readers are being asked to predict the top five overall winners at the 2026 Glenfiddich on 31 October at Blair Castle, Blair Atholl, Scotland. The prize package is offered by R.G. Hardie & Co.
Read the original ↗Jimmy Banks has released the Guards Club Knockout competitors, dates and head-to-heads for the 2026/27 season. Each piper will play a 30-minute set in the series.
Read the original ↗Six Australian competitors represented their bands and country at the 2026 World Solo Drumming Championships. The piece highlights their performances on the international stage.
Read the original ↗At Cookstown High School on 24 September, James Frazer of Field Marshal Montgomery won the senior piping title at the All-Ireland & JAC Solo Piping & Drumming Championships. William Glenholmes also featured in the senior titles, while John McElmurry and Alastair Donaghy were among the other named competitors.
Read the original ↗Kerr McQuillan of Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia won the 2026 World Solo Drumming Championship at Glasgow Caledonian University. He took the world’s top solo snare title in a field of 33 competitors.
Read the original ↗The 2026 World Solo Pipe Band Snare Drumming final dozen has been confirmed after the semi-final in Glasgow. The final list is headed by Richard Black, Blair Brown, Alex Buchanan and Derek Cooper, with 12 players set to contest the title.
Read the original ↗Stuart Liddell MBE is due to give an intimate evening recital at Moffat Distillery on 14 November. He is identified as Pipe Major of Inveraray and District Pipe Band.
Read the original ↗The notebook looks ahead to the World Solo Drumming in Glasgow and wishes the drummers well, while arguing that judges should weigh both musical and technical playing. It also points readers toward related piping items, including a Stuart Liddell recital.
Read the original ↗The World Solo Pipe Band Snare Drumming Championships returns to Glasgow Caledonian University on 17 October 2026, with 33 qualifiers in the semi-final heats. Defending champion Kerr McQuillan is among the competitors, alongside 2025 champion Alen Tully and multiple former winners.
Read the original ↗Pipe Major Ben Duncan is set to perform at the Mackenzie Caledonian Piping Recitals on 16 October. The recital is presented by the Mackenzie Caledonian Piping Recitals.
Read the original ↗Douglas Murray has been appointed pipe major of the Grade 2 LA Scots and says he is honoured to follow Scott MacDonald. The interview looks ahead to the demands of the role for the Fife-based former pipe major of Fife Police and solo piping champion.
Read the original ↗The Raasay Pitlochry Concert is scheduled for Pitlochry Town Hall on 30 October 2026, the Friday evening before the Glenfiddich. It is presented as a separate event from the Raasay Competition.
Read the original ↗Angus Clarke says the Raasay Pitlochry Concert will take place in Pitlochry Town Hall on the evening before the Glenfiddich. The concert is presented as a varied piping programme rather than a step-dancing competition.
Read the original ↗Thomas Fallon of Edinburgh won the 2026 Lochnell Championship at Lochnell Castle in Argyll after placing second in the Piobaireachd and third in the MSR. Eight pipers competed at the invitational event organised by the Argyllshire Gathering Trust.
Read the original ↗Bagpipe News has published the third part of Jeannie Campbell MBE’s research series on piping and pipers in Dundee in the 1800s. It is a historical article rather than a competition report.
Read the original ↗The new Piping Wire brings together piping news, competition coverage and event listings in one free service. It is aimed at keeping players and followers up to date across the piping world.
Read the original ↗A new Set Tunes Series 2026 piece focuses on “Young George’s Salute,” with commentary on its pentatonic structure and how master players vary the theme through singlings, doublings and treblings.
Read the original ↗Thomas Fallon was named overall champion at the Lochnell Intermediate Piping Competition, held on Saturday, 10 October 2026 and organised by the Argyllshire Gathering Trust.
Read the original ↗Liam Horne won the 2026 Nicol-Brown Amateur Invitational Piping Championship in Rockville, Maryland. The contest also featured results for Angus MacPhee, Ben Duncan, Kyle Shead, Connor Sinclair, Ashley McMichael, Josh Dickson, Sandy Cameron and Alasdair Henderson.
Read the original ↗Thomas Fallon of Edinburgh won the 6th annual Lochnell Piping Championship on 10 October at Lochnell Castle. The invitation-only under-22 contest brought together young solo pipers, with Fallon representing Field Marshal Montgomery.
Read the original ↗Liam Horne of Wise, Virginia, won the 43rd Nicol-Brown Amateur Invitational Piping Championship at St. Mark Presbyterian Church. He took first in both piobaireachd and the 6/8 March to finish on 20 points.
Read the original ↗Ashley McMichael of Antrim was named 2026 Northern Ireland Piper of the Year after winning the Piobaireachd and MMSSRR events at Ballymena.
Read the original ↗Ben Duncan won the Premier & A Grade March, Strathspey and Reel, while Angus MacPhee won the Premier & A Grade piobaireachd at Glasgow’s Royal National Mòd. Kyle Shead also lifted the Sheelah J trophy.
Read the original ↗Solo piping placings from the Piping Championships at the Royal National Mòd in Glasgow are listed, with a full set of named competitors across the events. The results include piobaireachd, March, Strathspey and Reel, and hornpipe and jig contests.
Read the original ↗Connor Sinclair, Callum Beaumont, Alasdair Henderson, Finlay Johnston and Angus D. MacColl performed at the 2026 Pipe-Major Alasdair Gillies Memorial Challenge Recital. The recital took place in the Strathclyde Suite and drew a packed audience.
Read the original ↗Entries are open for the Caritas Banner Piobaireachd Competition for pipers aged 18 and under at George Watson’s College. Ben Duncan is hosting the event, which is being held there again.
Read the original ↗The Lochnell Intermediate Championship is set for Benderloch, where eight young professionals will play piobaireachd and MSR for the title. Douglas Baird, Kyle Cameron, Thomas Fallon, Malachi Johannsen, Chris McCartan, Liam Nicolson, Andrew Pattison and Magnus Stone are named as the competitors.
Read the original ↗Calum Brown and Sean McKeown continue reflecting on their 2026 Highland Society of London Gold Medal victories, following wins at the Northern Meeting and the Argyllshire Gathering. The conversation is the second and final part of their interview.
Read the original ↗Calum Brown and Sean McKeown discuss their victories after winning the 2026 Gold Medals and setting new piping goals. The piece is a video conversation focused on their achievement and what comes next.
Read the original ↗The first Grant’s Championship, later known as the Glenfiddich Championship, was held at Blair Castle in October 1974. Jeannie Campbell notes that Liz Maxwell of William Grant was involved from the start.
Read the original ↗Finlay Johnston leads the Piobaireachd results from the Captain John MacLellan Memorial Competition at the Army School of Piping in Inchdrewer House, Edinburgh. The report notes the results are incomplete and may need correction.
Read the original ↗The National Piping Centre and William Grant Foundation are presenting the 53rd Glenfiddich Piping Championship at Blair Castle on 31 October 2026. The event starts from 10:30 a.m. and the published line-up includes ten solo pipers.
Read the original ↗Willie McCallum took the Premier overall title at the 13th Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Memorial Piping Competition at Inchdrewer House. Finlay Johnston won Premier Grade Piobaireachd and the Captain John MacLellan Gold Medal, while Sarah Muir won the Premier MSR and the Captain John MacLellan Piper Statue.
Read the original ↗Nineteen-year-old Nicholas Weston of Auckland has taken the New Zealand Young Piper of the Year title, winning the overall Under-21 prize against 12 other competitors.
Read the original ↗The 43rd Nicol-Brown Amateur Invitational Contest will be held at St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Rockville, Maryland, in partnership with the Institute of Musical Traditions. The weekend begins with a judges’ recital on Friday evening, 9 October.
Read the original ↗The Northern Ireland Piper of the Year Solo Piping Competition returns to the Adair Arms Hotel in Ballymena on 10 October, with 10 pipers competing for the 2026 title. The event began in 1979 at the Tullymore House Hotel in Broughshane.
Read the original ↗A second retrospective on Harry McNulty revisits his career as a piper, pipe major, adjudicator and bagpipe maker, drawing on a July 2002 Pipe Band Magazine feature.
Read the original ↗The 10 contestants for the 2026 Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championships at Blair Castle on 31 October are now confirmed. Among the named entrants are Chris Armstrong, Callum Beaumont, Alan Bevan and Willie McCallum.
Read the original ↗The solo piping competitions at Mòd Ghlaschu 2026 are scheduled for 10 October, with junior events at City of Glasgow College and senior events elsewhere. The draw lists name a wide field of pipers across the day.
Read the original ↗A review of A Guide to the Judging of Piping highlights a collection built around forewords, essays and responses from several notable figures in the piping world. The book includes work by Robert Wallace, Dugald Graham-Campbell, Malcolm McRae, James Campbell and Colin MacLellan.
Read the original ↗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.
Read the original ↗Andrew Hayes heads the MSR prize list from the Glengarry Cup in Ottawa on 26 September. Watch the five prizewinning performances in pipes|drums.
Read the original ↗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.
Read the original ↗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.
Read the original ↗The British Columbia Pipers’ Association has published its solo grading promotions and regradings for the 2026-27 season. It says the grading subcommittees reviewed results from BCPA-sanctioned solo and band competitions over the season.
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