Iain Speirs wins 2013 Glenfiddich Championship
Blair Atholl, Scotland – October 26, 2013 – The fortieth annual Glenfiddich Invitational Solo Piping Championship was won by Iain Speirs of Edinburgh, his second consecutive win of the award. The event pits 10 of the most successful solo piping competitors together in a qualifying process from the major events in the United Kingdom. In the overall standings, Stuart Liddell was second and Willie McCallum third.
Jack Lee, who won the MSR, reportedly played fellow competitor Alan Bevan’s pipes in the event after experiencing difficulties with his own in the Piobaireachd section that morning.
Piobaireachd
1st Iain Speirs, “Lament for Colin Roy MacKenzie”
2nd Stuart Liddell, Inveraray, Scotland, “In Praise of Morag”
3rd Willie McCallum, Bearsden, Scotland, “MacNeill of Barra’s March”
4th Bruce Gandy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, “Mary’s Praise”
5th Callum Beaumont, Bo’ness, Scotland, “Lament for the Earl of Antrim”
Judges: Malcolm McRae, Ronnie McShannon, Jack Taylor
MSR
1st Jack Lee, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, “Dugald MacColl’s Farewell to France,” “Atholl Cummers,” “Mrs. MacPherson of Inveran”
2nd Iain Speirs, “The Duke of Roxburgh’s Farewell to the Blackmount Forest,” “Lady Loudon,” “Bessie McIntyre”
3rd Bruce Gandy, “Leaving Lunga,” “Tulloch Castle,” “John Garroway”
4th Willie McCallum, “Captain Campbell of Drumavoisk,” “Dora MacLeod,” “Roddy MacDonald’s Fancy”
5th Stuart Liddell, “Abercairney Highlanders,” “Susan MacLeod,” “The Cockerel in the Creel”
Judges: Iain MacFadyen, Jim McGillivray, William Morrison
Also competing but not in the prizes were Alan Bevan, Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada; Cameron Drummond, Edinburgh; Alastair Dunn, Glasgow; and Angus MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland.
The competition was streamed live on the Internet with a viewership rising to as many as 1,300 at times.
The recipient of the Balvenie Medal, annually presented to a person for his or her contributions to piping was Ian McKerral for his work in the Campbelltown, Scotland, area in resurrecting piping and drumming since 2000.
John Wilson was again fear an tigh for the event.
Well deserved…..two great runs. What a day of piping…phenomenal standard.
To say that Jack Lee played someone else’s pipe after experiencing difficulties kinda sounds like the pipe got wet and a reed screwed up. The fact is that during either the tune up or performance, a huge crack opened up on his 1880’s Macdougalls bass drone. A real shame, hopefully it can be fixed once again.
Excellent audio and video quality on the live stream. Wonderful to be able to experience a contest of this caliber even though unable to attend in person. Also great to hear of the good sportsmanship. Cheers to ALL involved.
Thanks for clarifying Bruce. Love hearing about this kind of camaraderie in the piping world. ( I once let my kid borrow a bass reed but thinking that’s just a little different then a full set of pipes at the Glenfiddich)
Thoroughly enjoyed the piping on the day, but have not been able to find a list of what tunes were played in all events – not just the winners. Was not able to jot them down as it happened – can anyone help? Thainus