The Maket Collective takes centre stage at Piping Live! with a showcase in The Bothy at the National Piping Centre, celebrating some of the outstanding women currently shaping the world of piping and drumming.
Established in 2024, the Maket Collective was created to promote and amplify the voices and talents of women and girls across the piping and drumming community. Through performances, conversations, events and its international group of ambassadors, the initiative aims to increase visibility, provide inspiring role models and help create a more equitable future for women in the tradition.
For the 2026 Piping Live! showcase, performers included a quintet of pipers from St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band, Maket Collective ambassador Hazel Whyte, Pipe Idol performers Annabel Charlton, Maggie McConnochie and Flora Stone, as well as Taylor Page and Rita DeNobriga from the 78th Fraser Highlanders.
In this TRADtv feature, we hear music from the showcase and speak with Sophie Stringer, Youth & Communities Coordinator at the National Piping Centre and one of the driving forces behind the development of the Maket Collective, about the thinking behind the project, the importance of representation and the community it is helping to build.
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