Gandys, McIlwaine, Greighlan the big winners at 2026 BCPA Annual Gathering

Vancouver – April 3-4, 2026 – Competitors with the last name “Gandy” did very well at the British Columbia Pipers’ Association’s Annual Gathering, with Alex Gandy winning the MacCrimmon Cairn Open Piobaireachd and Bruce Gandy winning the aggregate Open Championship with an MSR win and a Piobaireachd second, punctuating his overall tally.

Ed MacIlwaine of Vancouver won the CPA Piobaireachd and with it the Darleen Milloy Memorial Medal and Trophy.

For his success, Bruce Gandy received the Piper’s Quaich and CAD$800 to compete at the Argyllshire Gathering, Northern Meeting or London in 2027.

It was Alex Gandy’s first time winning the coveted MacCrimmon Cair, his success coming exactly 20 years after he played in his first Open/Professional-grade solo piping competition, coincidentally at the 2005 BCPA Annual Gathering.

Almost every living previous winner of the MacCrimmon Cairn was present, including 15-time winner Jack Lee, who was presented with a framed photo of the original trophy by BCPA President David Hilder.

A total of 12 bands entered, and Greighlan Crossing won Grade 3, the top contested grade. The band is preparing to compete at the 2026 World Championships, as are Grade 2 Cascadia and Grade 1 SFU, the latter two bands performing a Medley and MSR for judges’ comments and the large audience’s enjoyment.

Bands

Grade 1
Simon Fraser University

Grade 2
Cascadia

Grade 3
Overall
1st Greighlan Crossing
2nd Vale United
Drumming: Greighlan Crossing

Medley
1st Greighlan Crossing (1,1,1,1)
2nd Vale United (2,2,2,2)
Judges: Terry Lee, Ian K. MacDonald (piping); Eli Fugate (drumming); Duncan Millar (ensemble)

MSR
1st Greighlan Crossing (1,1,1,1)
2nd Vale United (2,2,2,2)
Judges: Keith Paton, John Cairns (piping); Duncan Millar (drumming); Terry Lee (ensemble)

Grade 4
Overall
1st Northwest Junior
2nd Robert Malcolm Memorial 4
3rd Cascadia 4
4th Kamloops
5th White Spot
Drumming: Northwest Junior

Medley
1st Northwest Junior (2,1,1,1)
2nd Cascadia 4 (1,3,3,2)
3rd Robert Malcolm Memorial 4 (3,2,2,3)
4th White Spot (5,4,4,4)
5th Kamloops (4,5,5,5)
Judges: Ian K. MacDonald, John Cairns (piping); Eli Fugate (drumming); Terry Lee (ensemble)

MSR
1st Robert Malcolm Memorial 4 (1,2,2,2)
2nd Northwest Junior (3,1,1,3)
3rd Cascadia (4,3,3,1)
4th Kamloops (2,5,5,4)
5th White Spot (5,4,4,5)
Judges: Terry Lee, John Cairns (piping); Eli Fugate (drumming); Duncan Millar (ensemble)

Grade 5 (quick march set)
1st Robert Malcolm Memorial 5 (2,2,1,1)
2nd Harrison Highlander (1,1,3,3)
3rd Capital City (3,3,2,2)
Judges: Keith Paton, Ian K. MacDonald (piping); Eli Fugate (drumming); Duncan Millar (ensemble)

Solo Piping

Professional
Piobaireachd (MacCrimmon Cairn)
1st Alex Gandy, “Port Urlar”
2nd Bruce Gandy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, “MacLeod of Colbeck’s Lament”
3rd Nick Hudson, Houston, “Craigellachie”
4th Zephan Knichel, Lynwood, Washington, “The Earl of Seaforth’s Salute”
5th Cameron Bonar, Surrey, British Columbia, “I Got a Kiss of the King’s Hand”
6th Joe Biggs, Ajax, Ontario, “Lament for the Earl of Antrim”
Judge: Ian K. MacDonald

MSR (Duncan McInnes Memorial Trophy)
1st Bruce Gandy
2nd Alex Gandy
3rd Alastair Lee, Surrey, British Columbia
4th Craig Sutherland, British Columbia
5th Nick Hudson
6th Cameron Bonar
Judge: John Cairns

Jig (Donald MacDonald Memorial Shield)
1st Craig Sutherland
2nd Cameron Bonar
3rd Joe Biggs
4th Alastair Lee
5th Bruce Gandy
6th Alex Gandy
Judge: Colin McWilliams

Grade 1
Piobaireachd
1st Logan Gorsuch
2nd Jack Martin
3rd Colin Richdale
4th Kyle Gaul
5th Peyton Stewart
6th Jeff Rowell
Judge: Terry Lee

MSR
1st Ethan DesChamps
2nd Jack Martin
3rd Logan Gorsuch
4th Kyle Gaul
5th Colin Richdale
6th Jeff Rowell
Judge: Ian K MacDonald

Jig
1st Colin Richdale
2nd Kyle Gaul
3rd Jack Martin
4th Logan Gorsuch
5th Ethan DesChamps
6th Peyton Stewart
Judge: David Hilder

Grade 2
Piobaireachd
1st Travis McEachern
2nd Vienna Scheyer
3rd Hannah Focken
4th Sean Underwood
5th Silas Heard
6th Aaron Bergen
Judge: David Hilder

MSR
1st Silas Heard
2nd Aaron Bergen
3rd Sean Underwood
4th Vienna Scheyer
5th Travis McEachern
6th Garrett Bargabos
Judge: Terry Lee

Jig
1st Silas Heard
2nd Travis McEachern
3rd Vienna Scheyer
4th Sean Underwood
5th Aaron Bergen
6th Hannah Focken
Judge: Keith Paton

Grade 3A
Piobaireachd
1st Viet-phi Vo
2nd Trenton McGregor
3rd Keefe McWilliams
4th Samuel Wood
5th Ricky Zhi
6th Jayne Ferlitsch
Judge: John Lee

2/4 March
1st Elsa Wonder
2nd Trenton McGregor
3rd Ricky Zhi
4th Samuel Wood
5th Keefe McWilliams
6th Viet-phi Vo
Judge: Keith Paton

Strathspey & Reel
1st Samuel Wood
2nd Elsa Wonder
3rd Keefe McWilliams
4th Viet-phi Vo
5th Ricky Zhi
6th Gavin Calder
Judge: Shaunna Hilder

Grade 3B
Piobaireachd
1st Matthew Fleek
2nd Asher Yurchak
3rd Andrew Moore
4th Keelan Allen
5th Rhys Class
6th Adrienne Quane
Judge: David Hilder

2/4 March
1st Matthew Fleek
2nd Eden Svangtun
3rd Asher Yurchak
4th Keelan Allen
5th Andrew Moore
6th Ian Scott
Judge: John Sutherland

Strathspey & Reel
1st Matthew Fleek
2nd Eden Svangtun
3rd Maeve Ross
4th Keelan Allen
5th Andrew Moore
6th Adrienne Quane
Judge: Shaunna Hilder

Grade 4
Piobaireachd
1st Carl Wilder
2nd Stuart MacDonald
3rd Noah Pinchbeck
4th Brody Baird
5th Millie Kingston
6th Ilan Moss-Sheth
Judge: John Lee

2/4 March
1st Kathleen Madden
2nd Peter Innes
3rd Mairi Lister
4th Ilan Moss-Sheth
5th Millie Kingston
6th Patrick Sutherland
Judge: John Lee

Strathspey & Reel
1st Ilan Moss-Sheth
2nd Patrick Sutherland
3rd Sara Kozub
4th Peter Innes
5th Carl Wilder
6th Ayden Fitzpatrick
Judge: John Sutherland

Grade 5
2/4 March
1st Liam Borthwick
2nd Annie McKinnon
3rd Logan Lewis
4th Kieran Macdonald
5th Niko Stevens
6th Eli Dick
Judge: Terry Lee

Slow Air
1st Niko Stevens
2nd Liam Borthwick
3rd Tobin Jobes
4th Keenan Clark
5th Quinlan Mitchell
6th Kieran Macdonald
Judge: John Lee

Adult
Piobaireachd
1st Tristan Baird
2nd Brenda Allen
Judge: John Cairns

2/4 March
1st Shalni Prowse
2nd Frank Wimberley
3rd Tristan Baird
4th Brenda Allen
Judge: David Hilder

6/8 March
1st Shalni Prowse
2nd Frank Wimberley
3rd John MacCallum
4th Tristan Baird
5th Brenda Allen
Judge: Colin McWilliams

Beginner
2/4 March
1st Jensen Lee
2nd Oliver Irwin
3rd Liam Anderson
4th Gabrielle Michalenka
5th Jesse Leyes
Judge: David Hilder

Slow Air
1st Jensen Lee
2nd Liam Anderson
3rd Oliver Irwin
4th Jesse Leyes
5th Gabrielle Michalenka
Judge: Keith Paton

CPA B&C-Grade Piobaireachd
1st Edward McIlwaine
2nd Joseph Stewart
3rd Cameron Bonar
4th Zak Read
5th Teddy Krogh
6th Malachi Johannsen
Judge: John Cairns

Solo Drumming

Snare
Open
MSR
1st Megan Millar
2nd Malcolm Fuller
Judges: John Fisher, Eli Fugate

Hornpipe & Jig
1st Megan Millar
2nd Malcolm Fuller
Judges: John Fisher, Eli Fugate

Grade 1
MSR
1st Jayce Edetsberger
2nd Christian Nickerson
3rd Leilani Lucas
Judge: Eli Fugate

Hornpipe & Jig
1st Jayce Edetsberger
2nd Christian Nickerson
3rd Leilani Lucas
Judge: John Fisher

Grade 2
MSR
1st Max Fenwick
2nd Brendan Soh
Judge: Scott Robertson

Hornpipe & Jig
1st Brendan Soh
2nd Max Fenwick
Judge: Eli Fugate

Grade 3
2/4 March
1st Noah Bozic
2nd Madeleine Ferrie
3rd Chessa Ryan
4th Isaiah Dahlstrom
5th Maiya Frick
6th Jaik Suh
Judge: Eli Fugate

6/8 March
1st Madeleine Ferrie
2nd Noah Bozic
3rd Chessa Ryan
4th Maiya Frick
5th Jaik Suh
6th Isaiah Dahlstrom
Judge: John Fisher

Grade 4
2/4 March
1st Nolan Baird
2nd Liz Dunsire
3rd Justin Karwowski
4th Anna Boss
5th Ivy Moore
6th Audrey Brannon
Judge: Eli Fugate

6/8 March
1st Ivy Moore
2nd Liz Dunsire
3rd Shayla MacNeil
4th Nolan Baird
Judge: John Fisher

Beginner
2/4 March
1st Shravan Nataraj
2nd Corbin Clark
3rd Benjamin Zhang
4th Winston Lau
5th Thomas Baird
6th Patrick McLay
Judge: John Fisher

6/8 March
1st Shravan Nataraj
2nd Thomas Baird
3rd Benjamin Zhang
4th Patrick McLay
5th Winston Lau
6th Wayne Lau
Judge: Scott Robertson

Tenor
Open
MSR
1st Harry Justice
2nd Elise Svangtun
Judges: Eli Fugate, John Fisher

Hornpipe & Jig
1st Harry Justice
2nd Elise Svangtun
Judges: Eli Fugate, John Fisher

Intermediate
MSR
1st Frances Nokleby
2nd Rosie Ferrie
3rd Rowan Richdale
Judge: Scott Robertson

6/8 March
1st Frances Nokleby
2nd Rowan Richdale
3rd Rosie Ferrie
Judge: John Fisher

Beginner
2/4 March
1st Lilyane Jacobs