MacDougall’s Winter Storm Gathering a big success

Kansas City, Missouri – January 16, 2026 – Cameron MacDougall of South Orange, New Jersey, was the aggregate winner of the top solo piping events at the 22nd running of the Winter Storm solo piping and drumming competitions, held at the Marriott Hotel, Country Club Plaza.

For his success, in addition to the cash prizes and medals in each event, MacDougall earned a USD$1,500 credit for travel to compete in Scotland or return to Winter Storm in 2027.

Derek Midgley won the United States Gold Medal Piobaireachd event, while Robert Graham won the Gold Medal in the Professional Snare Drumming, Professional Tenor was won by Harry Justice, and Alex Kuldell won the Professional Bass Drumming.

The Winter Storm competitions and workshops are organized by the nonprofit Midwest Highland Arts Fund. There were 314 entries across all events, which were not sanctioned by an association.

Solo Piping

Professional
United States Gold Medal Piobaireachd (20 eligible; submit four tunes; sponsored by R.G. Hardie & Co.)
1st Derek Midgley, Tinton Falls, New Jersey (USD$750 + R.G. Hardie Infinity blackwood pipe chanter)
2nd Cameron MacDougall, South Orange, New Jersey ($500)
3rd Alastair Lee, Surrey, British Columbia ($250)
4th Cameron Bonar, Surrey, British Columbia
5th Ben McClamrock, Washington, DC
6th Ed McIlwhaine, Vancouver
Judges: Bill Caudill, Donald MacPhee, Bob Worrall

North American Gold Medal Ceol Beag (20 eligible; MSR, submit five of each genre; confined to those grade A or Premier by the CPA)
1st Cameron MacDougall
2nd Alastair Lee
3rd Joe Biggs, Ajax, Ontario
4th Cameron Bonar
5th Derek Midgley
6th Andrew Donlon, Washington, DC
Judges: Callum Beaumont, Richard Parkes, Gary West

United States Silver Medal Piobaireachd (30 eligible; MSR, submit four of each genre; open to those graded Professional/Open by their home association; sponsored by McCallum Bagpipes and the MWPBA.
1st William Shropshire, Durham, North Carolina
2nd Alastair Murray, Pittsburgh
3rd Magnus Stone, Natick, Massachusetts
4th Dan Lyden, Timonium, Maryland
5th Bobby Durning, Carrollton, Texas
6th Gillian Blaney, Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia
Judges: Nick Hudson, Jack Lee, Willie McCallum

North American Silver Medal Ceol Beag (38 eligible; MSR, submit four of each genre; open to those graded Professional/Open by their home association; sponsored by Dojo University)
1st Dan Lyden
2nd Tom Cangelosi, Arlington, Virginia
3rd Zephan Knichel, Lynwood, Washington
4th Zak Read, Chicago
5th Magnus Stone
6th Andrew Lewis, St. Paul, Minnesota
Judges: Jori Chisholm, Margaret Houlihan, Terry Lee

Grade 1
Piobaireachd
1st Alex Pavlovic
2nd Mihir Zambre
3rd Flora Stone
4th Andrew Zhao
5th Jacob Bowers
6th Ian Minnear
Judge: Donald MacPhee

Light Music
1st Mihir Zambre
2nd Abigail Long
3rd Colin Richdale
4th Andrew Zhao
5th Jack Martin
6th Ian Minnear
Judges: Terry Lee, Bob Worrall

Grade 2
Piobaireachd
1st Agustin Arguelles
2nd Jacob Layrock
3rd Sylvia Thiessen
4th Kim Greeley
5th Meghan McElhinney
6th Janna Freed
Judges: Bill Caudill, Jack Lee

Light Music
1st Jacob Layrock
2nd Meghan McElhinney
3rd Bridget Englebretson
4th Anthony St Clair
5th Agustin Arguelles
6th Justice Peterson
Judges: Callum Beaumont, Willie McCallum

Grade 3
Piobaireachd
1st Olivia Boydstun
2nd Kimberly Meek
3rd Michael Braunsky
4th Steven Coontz
5th Paul Dailey
6th Cliff Ermatinger
Judges: Margaret Houlihan, Nick Hudson

Light Music
1st Michelle Blam
2nd Brigita Benroth
3rd Peter Lieu
4th Eden Svangtun
5th Keegan Beard
6th Olivia Boydstun
Judges: Richard Parkes, Gary West

Grade 4
1st Curt Atwell
2nd Tanya Berg
3rd Linda Bomya
4th Timothy Gatehouse
5th Susan Martin
6th Linda Quanstrom
Judge: Tristan Wilson

Solo Drumming

Snare
North American Gold Medal Snare Drumming Championship
1st Robert Graham
2nd Tommi McAndrew
3rd Malcolm Fuller
4th Graham Brown
5th Sebastian Arguelles
6th Mark McKendrick
Judges: Stephen Creighton, Jake Jörgenson, Kerr McQuillan

Grade 1
1st Quinn Faith
2nd Jonathan Giles
3rd Kevin Dill
4th Jayce Edetsberger
5th Susan Shoemaker
6th Terrance Cadiente
Judges: Jake Jörgensen; Kerr McQuillan

Grade 2
1st Max Fenwick
2nd Leilani Lucas
3rd Andrew Koupal
4th Ken Decker
5th Eric Legere
6th Andrew Galpin
Judges: Jake Jörgensen, Kerr McQuillan

Grade 3
1st Ryan Seigmiller
2nd Andrew Keppel
3rd Scarlett Jacoby
4th David Torrance
5th Rowan Patel
6th Kyle Womelduff
Judges: Stephen Creighton, Jim Sim

Tenor
Gold Medal Championships
1st Harry Justice
2nd Katie Byzewski
3rd Carolin Stonier
4th Taylor Page
5th Elise Svangtun
Judges: Christina Henry, Owen Russell

Amateur Championships
1st Felisha Gomez
2nd Phoebe Morris
3rd Eric Legere
4th Marielle Webster
5th Sophia Jantzen
6th Cori Kirkland
Judges: Christina Henry, Owen Russell

Bass
Gold Medal Championships
1st Alexander Kuldell
2nd Terrance Cadiente
3rd Eric Legere
4th Michael Keppel
Judges: Christina Henry, Owen Russell

Amateur Championships
1st Liam Baird
2nd Isla Ross
3rd Marie Rude
4th Timothy Harjus
5th Andrew Koupal
6th Lauren Lane
Judges: Christina Henry, Owen Russell

A correction was made on Jan. 17, 2026: An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed the winner of the Gold Medal in Bass Drumming. Alexander Kuldell was the winner, and the article was amended accordingly.