Duncan Johnstone

{{Short description|Scottish musician (1925–1999)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Duncan Johnstone

| image =

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| birth_name =

| birth_date ={{birth date|df=yes|1925|07|25}}

| birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1999|11|02|1925|07|25}}

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| genre =

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| instrument = Great Highland Bagpipe

}}

Duncan Johnstone (25 July 1925 – 14 November 1999) was a Scottish bagpiper and composer.{{cite news | last = Gilchrist | first = Jim | title = Music Review : Celtic Connections : Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band & Lothian & Borders Police Pipe Band : **** | newspaper = The Scotsman | pages = 34 | date = 30 January 2012 }}{{cite news | title = Duncan Johnstone | newspaper = The Herald | location = Glasgow | pages = 18 | date = 27 November 1999 }}

He was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His parents were Alexander Johnstone (born MacMillan) from Benbecula and his mother Kate MacMillan from Craigston, Barra.{{cn|date=October 2022}} His mother was the sister of Father John MacMillan of Barra for whom the 2/4 march piping tune was named.{{cn|date=October 2022}} Upon leaving school, he was apprenticed as a cabinetmaker.{{cite web |title=Famous Pipers: Duncan Johnstone |url=https://bagpipe.news/2020/11/05/famous-pipers-duncan-johnstone/ |website=Bagpipe News |publisher=The National Piping Centre |access-date=2 May 2021}} During World War II, Duncan served with the Submarine Surveillance Mine Sweeping Service in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. On his return from the war, he became a joiner for the Clan Line and Stephen shipyards, whilst taking piping lessons in his free time. He was the first piper to win the Scottish Pipers' Association Knockout Competition in 1964.

In 1974, he moved on to be a bagpipe instructor full-time at the College of Piping in Otago Street, Glasgow; a position he held until 1978 when, he founded his own piping school in Robertson Street. Duncan taught Finlay MacDonald (musician), one of the first pipers to receive a BA in Scottish Music from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

He published three books of traditional and modern pipe music and three solo albums. He was awarded the Balvenie Medal by Messrs Wm Grant & Son in 1996 for his piping achievements.

After his death the Duncan Johnstone Memorial Competition was set up by the National Piping Centre.{{cite news | last = Gilchrist | first = Jim | title = Folk, Jazz, Etc: Son's suite tribute to the piper's piper, the late Duncan Johnstone | newspaper = The Scotsman | pages = 40 | date = 4 August 2010 }}