Army School cancels Capt. John Championship

The might have been hope that it would go on in October, but the Army School of Bagpipe Music & Highland Drumming has outright cancelled the 2020 Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Piping Championship.

The annual event, held in the fall has become a fast favourite with the UK’s top-tier solo pipers, quickly renowned for running with military precision.

The contest is held at Inchdrewer House at Redford Barracks outside of Edinburgh, the home of the Army School of Bagpipe Music & Highland Drumming.

“We have taken the difficult decision to cancel this year’s competition as any additional use of our facilities could heighten the risk of having to close our doors once again,” said Director of Army Bagpipe Music, Major Gordon Rowan. “We explored all options but felt on line for the size of the entry was just to difficult to manage. This including with the restrictions of COVID we couldn’t bring the high number of judges required into the school without heightening the risk of potentially bringing the virus into Inchdrewer and again at the risk of potentially having to close the school.”

Rowan added that they have set October 9th as the date of the 2021 competition.

The Army School of Bagpipe Music & Highland Drumming reopened this week for teaching for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown began in March.

Angus D. MacColl was the overall winner of the 2019 Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Piping Championship.

Started in 2012, the contest honours the memory and contributions of Captain John MacLellan MBE, the first Director of Army Bagpipe Music and one of history’s greatest pipers and builders of the art. Many of the trophies are named with a close connection to MacLellan.

The event is separate from the Captain John A. MacLellan MBE Memorial Dinner Recital, which is run by the Captain John A. MacLellan Memorial Trust.

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