The Cambridge Scottish Festival, scheduled for July 18 in Cambridge, Ontario, has been cancelled with just over a week’s notice, leaving a significant gap in the Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario’s competition calendar. The event had attracted record…
Grade 2 Mackenzie Caledonian Pipe Band has announced that acclaimed solo piper Ben Duncan will headline its latest recital on October 16 at St. Mary’s Church in Broughty Ferry, Scotland. Duncan, a member of Grade 1 Field Marshal Montgomery, has…
The 43rd Chatsworth Solo Piping Competitions will take place September 5-6 at the Chatsworth Country Fair in Derbyshire, England, offering a record £4,300-plus prize fund. The prestigious Captain John MacLellan Memorial Piobaireachd will award £450 to the winner, while an…
Bruce Hitchings has stepped down as Chair of the Solo Piping Judges Association (SPJA), effective immediately, after serving in the role since 2023. A highly respected figure in the piping world, Hitchings leaves behind a legacy of leadership, military service,…
You might think the pipes belong strictly to the Highlands or Port Dover, Ontario, but they’ve actually been to orbit! Canadian astronaut Kjell Lindgren played a set of “pipes” (specifically a chanter) on the International Space Station to honor a…
One of our favorite tunes to play in Port Dover, Ontario is The Black Bear. It is traditionally the fastest march used by Highland regiments to return to their barracks. It’s famous for the moment where the soldiers (and the…
If you want to know the “dirty secret” of the North Shore Highlanders, it’s that our instruments are held together by yellow string and electrical tape. To keep the joints of the pipes airtight in the Port Dover, Ontario weather,…
One of the hardest things for a new piper to learn isn’t the music—it’s the “strike-in.” This is the moment when you squeeze the bag and all the drones start humming at once. If you do it wrong, you get…