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Gordon Duncan’s Music Around the World
Gordon Duncan’s music continues to travel far beyond Scotland, inspiring pipers and audiences across the world. In 2024, the Celtic Arts Foundation established the Gordon Duncan Memorial Kitchen Piping Competition at the Skagit Valley Highland Games in Washington State, USA. The competition celebrates Gordon’s creativity and distinctive musical voice, with competitors required to include at least one of his compositions in their performance. It is a fitting reflection of the way Gordon’s tunes have been shared, played and loved internationally.
The Victorian Pipers Association in Victoria, Australia, also held its first Gordon Duncan Memorial Piping Competition in 2025, further demonstrating the reach of Gordon’s music. As with the Washington competition, competitors are required to include at least one of Gordon’s compositions in their competition performance. Gordon himself visited Australia and was once asked to give a seminar. Gordon, being Gordon and not much for speaking, was asked one question at the seminar, which was “ What do you need to make your pipes sound so great?”. Gordon’s answer was “A good pair of lugs and a roll of tape!”, then he picked up his pipes and just played! No more questions were offered.
Live ’N’ Well at 30
On 17th January 2026, Celtic Connections hosted Live ’N’ Well at 30, a celebration of 30 years since the Vale of Atholl Pipe Band’s iconic pre-Worlds concert, later released on the album Live ’N’ Well. The original concert took place at Motherwell Town Hall before Glasgow Royal Concert Hall became the established home for major piping concerts. For the 2026 re-enactment, four original members from the 1996 concert were joined by leading current players from several top pipe bands. The concert was performed to a full hall and celebrated music written by Gordon Duncan and his friend Roddy S MacDonald, whose tunes were also closely associated with the Vale over many years.
Atholl Highlanders Tour
Ian went on the 2025 Atholl Highlanders Tour which included the Tartan Day Parade in New York, then a parade in Washington DC and Boston and finally a more relaxed catch up with their friends in Atholl, Massachusetts.
Back in 1987 both Gordon and Ian were on a previous Atholl Highlanders Tour in USA when they arrived in Athol, Massachusetts, when one of the local artists painted a lovely picture of “An Atholl Highlander”. Once seen it was obvious to all who knew Gordon that he was the ‘model’ for the painting! Nobody else stood like that! The next time the Atholl Highlanders were on a tour and visited their friends in Athol was in 2012, seven years after Gordon had passed away. A poignant moment for the photograph on the wall under the painting of Gordon.
And on Friday the 11th April 2025, another special photo of Ian admiring the painting of Gordon, twenty years after Gordon passed away, when Gordon would have been in his sixtieth year, still in pride of place in the Old Town Hall in Athol, Massachusetts.
Balvenie Medal Award
We are delighted to share that Ian Duncan, chair of the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust, was awarded the prestigious Balvenie Medal at the 51st Annual Glenfiddich Piping Championships, hosted by The National Piping Centre and the William Grant Foundation.
The Balvenie Medal is awarded annually to individuals who have dedicated their lives to the study, performance, and appreciation of the Great Highland Bagpipe, promoting piping as a vibrant cultural tradition. This honour, presented to only one recipient each year, celebrates a lifetime of commitment to Scotland’s piping heritage, with each recipient traditionally unaware of the award until the ceremony itself. This year’s award is a testament to Ian’s exceptional contribution to the art of piping.
Ian joined the Vale of Atholl Pipe Band in 1965, and, after several successful seasons on the solo boards, became Pipe Major in 1973, a position he held until 2000. By 1983 the band had been elevated to Grade 1, winning the European Championship in 1988 and the British Championship in 1989.
Under his leadership the band were trailblazers, bringing pipe band music to the big stage and recording music ahead of its time. Tapping into celtic influences from Britanny and Galicia provided fertile musical territory for the classic recordings ‘Both Sides of the Tracks’, ‘Salutations’, ‘No Reservations’, and ‘Live’n Well in Motherwell’. The groundbreaking recording ‘Names and Places’ was showcased at Celtic Connections in 2023.
After stepping down from the Vale, the draw of pipe bands was too strong for Ian to resist. He spent time in Scottish Power, Lothian & Borders Police, and Drambuie Kirkliston. As Pipe Major of Drambuie they secured the Grade 2 World Championship in 2015.
With his brother Gordon’s untimely passing in 2005, Ian helped establish the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust. To date, the Trust has given over £130,000 in grants to a wide range of individuals and organisations, and Ian was instrumental in helping put together two collections of his late brother’s music.
At Blair Castle in 1971, he joined the famous Atholl Highlanders and became Pipe Major of their band in 2002. He retired from that position 20 years later in 2022. Quite a run!
In conclusion, this year’s Balvenie Medal went to a man who has truly given his life to teaching, performing, and leadership in every facet of piping. There can not have been a more deserving recipient.
Jock Duncan – The Man and His Songs
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