Bobby Durning wins Piobaireachd Society Gold Medal (Canada) at Maxville

Maxville, Ontario – July 29, 2022 – Twelve competed in the 2022 Piobaireachd Society Gold Medal (Canada) competition held at St. Michael and All Angels Anglican Church in the farming village’s central area, and ultimately Bobby Durning of Carrollton, Texas, gained the prize playing “Lament for the Viscount of Dundee.”

Andrew Hayes of Nepean, Ontario,  won the Bar to the Medal contest against three other players. He played “Nameless (Cherede Darievea).” The competition is reserved for previous winners of the Gold Medal and offered a first-prize of $3,000, making it one of the largest cash rewards for any type of piping, drumming or pipe band competition in the world. With the prospect of even more prize money, the organizers hope to attract even more far-travelled competitors in the future.

The competition returned for the first time since 2019 due to the global pandemic, and was sponsored by GFL Environmental.

Piobaireachd Society Gold Medal (Canada) (12 competed)
1st Bobby Durning ($700)
2nd Liam Melville, Smith’s Falls, Ontario, “MacLeod of Colbeck’s Lament” ($500)
3rd Andrew Donlon, Germantown, Maryland, “Rory MacLoude’s Lament” ($300)
4th Ben McClamrock, Washington, DC, “Scarce of Fishing” ($200)
5th Brendan Culver, Barrie, Ontario, “Lament for Partick Og MacCrimmon” ($100)
Judges: Ed Bush, Colin MacLellan, Jim McGillivray

Also competing: Alastair Murray, Moon, Pennsylvania, “The Big Spree”; Caleb Thibodeau, Toronto, “Lament for Mary MacLeod”; Tyler Harris, St. Catharines, Ontario, “The King’s Taxes”; Ross Davison, Kanata, Ontario, “MacCrimmon’s Sweetheart”; Dan Lyden, Baltimore, “The Blue Ribbon”; Tyler Johnson, Oak Park, Michigan, “Beloved Scotland”; Liam MacDonald, Waterloo, Ontario, “Lament for the Departure of King James”

Bar to the Medal (five competed)
1st Andrew Hayes ($3,000)
2nd Bruce Gandy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, “The Laird of Anapool’s Lament” ($1,000)
3rd Ian K. MacDonald, Whitby, Ontario, “Lament for Donald Ban MacCrimmon” ($750)
Judges: Ed Bush, Colin MacLellan, Jim McGillivray

Also competing was Jacob Dicker, Hammond, Ontario, “The Unjust Incarceration”