Junior Piping registration

The details regarding the Inverness Piping Society 2011 Junior Piping competition are now up on the main website for the Society.

Parents / Guardians can now register youngsters online, thereby saving on postage, etc.  Just pay on the day.

Access full details of the event by clicking here.

Inverness Games 2011 Results

Junior March, Strathspey and Reel

1. Norman Gillies (Ullapool)
2. Charles MacDonald (Inverness)
3. Andrew Clark (Montrose)

Junior Piobaireachd

1. Norman Gillies (Ullapool)
2. Scott Hay (Forres)
3. Charles MacDonald (Inverness)

14 Juniors (<18) entered this year's competition (a record!)  The Junior Champion 2011 - Norman Gillies

Senior March, Strathspey and Reel

1. Niall Matheson (Inverness)

2. Colin Campbell (Aberlour)

3. John Angus Morrison (South Uist)

Senior Piobaireachd

1. Niall Matheson (Inverness) - The Lament for The Duke of Hamilton

2. Euan MacCrimmon (Inverness) - The Stewart's White Banner

3. Iain Marshall (Oban) - The End of the Great Bridge

17 Seniors entered the Solo Piping with 13 entering the Piobaireachd!   A long day for judges and pipers.

Overall Senior Champion and Bratach a’Phiobaire winner 2011 - Niall Matheson.

Solo Piping - Inverness Games 2011

The Junior Piping Competition registration (£3 fee) will close at 11.00am with the draw at 11.10am and the MSR & Piobaireachd competitions starting 11.20am.  Register on-line now!

The Senior Piping Competition registration (£5 fee) will close around 12.00 noon with the draw as soon as the Junior Competition finishes (approx. 1.00pm.)  The senior competitions will start within 10 mins of the draw (approx. 1.30pm.)  Register on-line now!


The adjudicators are:

Piobaireachd - John McDougall & Duncan Watson
MSR - Pipe Major Iain Morrison and James Hamilton


SUBMISSION OF TUNES WILL BE AS FOLLOWS:

Juniors

• March - 2 tunes of own choice (4 part, 2/4)
• Strathspey - 2 tunes of own choice (4 part)
• Reel - 1 tune of own choice (4 part)
• Piobaireachd - 1 tune of own choice

Seniors

• March - 3 tunes of own choice (4 part, 2/4)
• Strathspey - 3 tunes of own choice
• Reel - 1 tune of own choice
• Piobaireachd - 3 tunes of own choice

SENIOR PRIZES

MSR:  1st - £90 / 2nd - £60 / 3rd - £40

Piob: 1st - £120 / 2nd - £70 / 3rd - £50

JUNIOR PRIZES (VOUCHERS)

MSR:  1st - £20 / 2nd - £15 / 3rd - £5

PIOB: 1st -£20 / 2nd - £15 / 3rd - £5 

AWARDING OF POINTS

The MSRs (both junior and senior) will be judged as one competition. The MSR and the Piobaireachd competition will have points awarded as follows:

1st - 4 points / 2nd - 3 points / 3rd - 2 points / 4th - 1 point

TROPHIES


Trophies will be awarded to both the overall Junior & Senior winner, based on the aggregate score from the MSR and Piobaireachd competitions. In the event of a tie, the Piobaireachd result will take precedence. The two overall winners will be presented with their trophies by The Games Chieftain in front of the main games stand (Northern Meeting Park) and will be expected to play any 3/4, 4/4 or 6/8 March of their own choice for the entertainment of the games visitors.


Senior Overall Winner will be awarded the Bratach a’Phiobaire (The Piper’s banner).

Junior Piping Competition 2011

The Society had taken the decision to postpone the Inverness Junior Piping Competition until Saturday 17 September 2011. This will allow the full quota of adjudicators and stewards to be available.  We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Go to the Inverness Piping Society website and download the application form now.

The competition will be held in Inverness High School.

Pipe Major Gordon Walker

Not long now to Gordon Walker's long anticipated recital at Tulloch Castle.  Always a great favourite with piping enthusiasts here in the north.  Make sure you get to Dingwall on 26 March 2011 in time for the start of the event 7.30pm for 8.00pm

Gordon will do two forty minute slots, with a 30 minute break for refreshments and a raffle draw.

The young piper doing a solo stint that evening is Martin Laing from Inverness and receives tuition from the famous Rona Lightfoot.

Stuart Liddell Recital 2011

Stuart Liddell came to Tulloch Castle, hot from Seattle where he and Pipe Major Brian Donaldson, Pipe Major Alasdair Gillies, Murray Henderson, Roddy MacLeod (MBE) and Fred Morrison were playing at a Concert sponsored by The Celtic Arts Foundation in Seattle.  He had flown back into Scotland two days previous and his body clock was still in USA (Seattle time).... so still wide awake at 11.30 pm. as we were leaving Tulloch.
A great performance by Stuart on a fabulous sounding chanter and drones, a winning combination along with those flying fingers.  Stuart played the piobaireachd Port Urlar, one of this year's Clasp tunes - a wild and dramatic tune played so musically. Yet another big crowd (75+) at Tulloch and very happy people at the end of the evening.

Watch and listen to Stuart playing some retreat marches on our YouTube area.

 Conall MacIllechiar from Kiltarlity played at the start of Stuart's recital

 on a good sounding McCallum pipe and plenty of comments: 'That's a good piper'. A past pupil of Duncan MacDonald, Inverness, Conall is now receiving tutorship from Iain MacFayden at the National Centre for Excellence in Traditional Music in Plockton.

Conall entertained with the following tunes:

Ballochyle, Kenneth J Macleod
The Knightswood Ceilidh, The Pipers Bonnet, The Sheepwife
Calum Beag, Arthur Gillies, The Gold Ring, Donella Beaton
An Eala Bhan, Oran Mhor Mhicleod, Seonaidhs Tune, Cuiridh Mi a Ghluain air a Bhodaich, Och is Duine Truagh Mi, MacArthurs Road.

Stuart Liddell Recital 12 Feb 2011

Stuart will give a recital at Tulloch Castle Hotel, Dingwall on Saturday 12 February 2011.  Come at 7.30 for 8.00pm start. Pay at the door.  Stuart won the Gold medal at the Northern Meeting in Inverness in 2000, followed by the Oban Gold Medal in 2004. SPSL Champion Piper 2009, Bratach Gorm Premier Piobaireachd, William Gillies Memorial Cup for Piobaireachd, 2009 Glenfiddich, etc, etc.  Stuart is the Pipe Major of Inverary & District Pipe Band, 2009 Champion of Champions.

Support piper is Conall MacIllechiar (16) from Kiltarlity.   Conall has been attending Plockton Music School since August last year and has been playing pipes for over four years, previously under Duncan MacDonald's tutorship, and currently being taught by Iain Macfadyen.

Junior Piping Competition 2011

Latest news: The date has been set for Saturday 25 June 2011 and the location is Inverness High School.

Tulloch Castle Recital January 2011

The evening started with Craig MacKenzie from picturesque Beauly giving a very mature performance in front of this eager crowd of piping enthusiasts.  With a great sounding pipe (McCallum) he started with that lovely 3/4 The Bloody Fields of Flanders and into every popular Castle Dangerous.  With his pipes now steady he moved straight into The Braes of Brecklett, Arniston Castle and The Sheepwife.   A quick re-tune then onto melodic Sarah's Song, Phil Cunningham's composition which is a favourite with many pipers, and juxtapositioned it with the jig Kenny Gillies of Portnalong, Skye.  Craig finished his introductory recital with the 6/8's John MacColl's Farewell to The Scottish Horse and Ben Gullion.  Great stuff.  Job well done!

Euan then stepped up to play his great sounding Naill pipes.  He had his old 1980's Naill chanter polished up and set with a Duncan Watson reed sounding bright and on song.  We were in for a good evening's piping.  Euan had only 3 weeks notice for this recital and as observed by Rona Lightfoot: "You have to be on your toes as a piper, as you never know when you are going to be asked to give a recital."  Very true.

Our favourites were given an airing : 9/8s, 6/8s, slow airs, jigs, 4/4s, Hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys and reels, and two piobaireachd - The Earl of Ross' March which I thought was brilliantly played, great tempo and what a Crunluath, perfect.  The other piobaireachd was Donald MacLeod's Salute to The Glasgow Highland Club.  Very enjoyable as are all of Donald's piobaireachd.  I love them and a great way to introduce piobaireachd to all.

Piping Society Web Address

The Inverness Piping Society can now be found at the address:

invernesspipingsociety.co.uk