Craig Sutherland wins 2026 Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Medal

Edinburgh – August 29, 2026 – Craig Sutherland, Vancouver, won the 2026 Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Memorial Medal at another packed annual black-tie Dinner & Recital Competition at the Caledonian Hotel in Edinburgh, awarded the prize by sole judge Ian Duncan for a performance of “For My Lass, Fair, Pretty and Highland.”

The other three invited pipers were Callum Beaumont, Guardbridge, Scotland, “Salute to the Succession”; Cameron Drummond, Edinburgh, “A Lullaby for Iain”; and Derek Midgley, Tinton Falls, New Jersey, “A Welcome for Patrick Struan.”

Each competitor is assigned a piobaireachd composed by, or closely associated with, Captain John A. MacLellan MBE, one of the most important pipers, composers, and contributors to Highland piping in history.

The Captain John MacLellan Memorial Trust established the competition in 2011, and the Eagle Pipers’ Society has organized it since 2022. The William Grant Foundation supports the event.

Held between the Argyllshire Gathering at Oban and the Northern Meeting at Inverness, the competition brings together four elite pipers in an unusual recital format following a formal dinner at the Caledonian, near Edinburgh Castle.

Iain Speirs holds the record with five Captain John Medals.