Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Music competition to return to Skye castle – but pipers will perform remotely

Piper Archie Maclean. Supplied by Armadale Castle.
Piper Archie Maclean. Supplied by Armadale Castle.

A traditional annual piping and clarsach competition will return this year after being cancelled due to the pandemic.

Clan Donald Lands Trust’s traditional competition will be hosted live from the museum at Armadale Castle, Skye – although competitors will perform remotely.

The Donald MacDonald Cuach for Piobaireachd takes place on June 11 and will be opened by a performance by local piper Archie Maclean in the castle gardens at 7pm.

Stuart Liddell, Callum Beaumont, Andrew Hayes, Finlay Johnston and Glenn Brown will all compete for the top spot as a world-class piper, with their efforts livestreamed to judges and fans.

This will be the 34th year the presitigious piping competition has taken place. It will be hosted by Angus MacDonald and judged by Jack Taylor.

Mr MacDonald said: “We have put rigorous systems in place for recording and judging to ensure that our competition standards are not compromised.

“As ever, the calibre of the competitors is first-class and I am sure we can all look forward to an excellent evening of Piobaireachd.”

On June 12, the Princess Margaret of the Isles Prize for Senior Clarsach will take place at 2pm, with convener John Purser introducing the competition live from the museum.

The finalists are Karen Marshalsay, Pippa Reid-Foster, Fray Thomsen and Loreleï Tochet. Each harpist has composed music especially for the competition, which they will play alongside arrangements of traditional and contemporary works.

Gillian Fleetwood, the internationally acclaimed clarsach player, will be judging the competition.

She said: “I am delighted to be coming to Skye to judge the competition and am eagerly anticipating hearing the performances. The competition is set to be a wonderful showcase of the versatility of the Scottish harp.”

Last year the competitions were forced to cancel due to the pandemic, however, Christine Davis, the marketing manager at Armadale Castle, said that they were determined to run them this year.

She commented: “Facing continued uncertainties, we took the decision to run the competitions virtually to ensure that everyone felt able to participate safely. Although we will miss our live audience we look forward to interacting online and watching some exceptional performances.”

The livestreams will be combined with filmed performances from each competitor and free to watch on the Armadale Castle Facebook page.