Updated: Glenfiddich invitees determined

The 10 pipers who are to be invited to the Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championships at Blair Atholl, Scotland, in October have been determined, but Ann Gray of Calgary and Andrew Hayes of Ottawa have been left off of the list after winning, respectively, the United States Piping Foundation (USPF) and the Piobaireachd Society (Canada) Gold Medal competitions.

As in past years, the organizers dropped down to second-prize-winners at a few events to determine their list of invitees.

Liz Maxwell, an organizer of the event, stressed that the list is “neither official nor confirmed.”

• Alastair Dunn, Glasgow – Northern Meeting Gold Medal winner
• Murray Henderson, Kirriemuir, Scotland – Clasp winner
• Willie McCallum, Bearsden, Scotland – 2005 Glenfiddich Champion and Silver Star at the Northern Meeting
• Angus MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland – second in the Clasp
• Euan MacCrimmon, Inverness, Scotland – Silver Chanter winner
• Roddy MacLeod, Cumbernauld, Scotland – Senior Piobaireachd winner and Former Winners’ MSR at the Argyllshire Gathering
• Allan Russell, Kelty, Scotland – second in the Argyllshire Gathering Former Winners’ MSR
• Iain Speirs, Edinburgh – second in the Argyllshire Gathering Senior Piobaireachd
• Pipe-Major Gordon Walker, Moscow, Scotland – Bratach Gorm winner
• Greg Wilson, New Zealand – Argyllshire Gathering Gold Medal winner

  Stuart Liddell of Inveraray, Scotland, was named the only alternate for the event, after finishing second in the Silver Star MSR at the Northern Meeting.

  The winners of the USPF and Piobaireachd Society (Canada) Gold Medal events are clearly designated “for consideration” and are not a guarantee for receiving an invitation to the Glenfiddich. Michael Cusack of Houston and Bill Livingstone of Whitby, Ontario, have in the past received invitations after winning one of these events.

  “Everyone would agree that the players invited to this year’s Glenfiddich are deserving of the invitation,” Hayes commented. “I can say that I had not turned my mind to the possibility that I would be considered by the Glenfiddich. It was my understanding that . . . the Piobaireachd Society (Canada) competition had lost this status a few years ago. Given the quality of North American solo piping . . . the winners of the USPF and the Piobaireachd Society (Canada) competition would represent North America well at the Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championships.”

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