Elite Drummers Gear Up for World Solo Championships

The world’s top pipe band snare drummers are getting set for the annual RSPBA 2000 World Solo Drumming Championships on February 26 in Bathgate, Scotland.

Sponsored by Andante Percussion of Banbridge, Northern Ireland, the World Solos are seen as the highlight of the individual side drumming calendar. The contest has been held annually for over 40 years, and over half of the first prizes have been won by either the late Alex Duthart or Jim Kilpatrick, both from the “drumming belt” between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Kilpatrick has won the event an unprecedented eleven times.

The 1999 winner, Andrew Scullion of Northern Ireland, will defend the title and is among the favourites to win, along with Shotts & Dykehead’s Kilpatrick, Arthur Cook of the Lothian & Borders Police, Gordon Brown of Boghall & Bathgate, Eric Ward of the Strathclyde Police, and J. Reid Maxwell of Simon Fraser University.

The Andante company stepped in to sponsor the World Solo Drumming Championships after long time sponsor Premier withdrew. The event will be held at Bathgate Academy in Bathgate, Scotland.

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