Ten of world’s best pipers ready for Glenfiddich on Saturday

The 41st annual Glenfiddich Invitational Solo Piping Championship is poised for staging all day on Saturday, October 25th, at Blair Atholl, Scotland, where 10 of the world’s most successful competing pipers will go at it hammer-and-tongs in a no-holds-barred solo piping smackdown.

Or, more accurately, in dignified Piobaireachd and MSR events in the world’s most elegant piping venue: the antler- and arms-festooned Great Hall of Blair Castle, ancestral home of the Duke of Atholl.

The whole thing will be streamed live beginning at 10 am GMT at no charge by the National Piping Centre, but with a suggested contribution to the Pipe-Major Donald MacLeod MBE Memorial Piping Competition, which will be held April 10, 2015, in the Caladh Inn Hotel, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland.

Competitors at this year’s Glenfiddich:

• Bruce Gandy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Canada – winner of the Senior Piobaireachd at the Argyllshire Gathering
• Jack Lee, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada – third in the Clasp at the Northern Meeting
• Stuart Liddell, Inveraray, Scotland – winner of the Silver Star MSR at the Argyllshire Gathering; winner of the Masters at Piping Live!
• Angus MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland – third in the Senior Piobaireachd at the Argyllshire Gathering
• Willie McCallum, Bearsden, Scotland – second in the Silver Star MSR at the Argyllshire Gathering; second in the Silver Star MSR at the Northern Meeting
• Gordon McCready, Renfrew, Scotland – third in the Silver Star MSR at the Argyllshire Gathering
• Roddy MacLeod, Glasgow – winner of the Bratach Gorm at London
• Douglas Murray, Cupar, Scotland – winner of the Gold Medals at the Argyllshire Gathering and Northern Meeting
• Iain Speirs, Edinburgh – 2013 Glenfiddich Champion, winner of the Clasp at Inverness; overall champion at London
• Niall Stewart, Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland – winner of the Silver Star MSR at the Northern Meeting

Speirs will defend his title for the third straight time, while McCallum has his sights set on his ninth overall Glenfiddich Championship to break his own record. McCready is making his first appearance at the event.

Each competitor must submit six piobaireachds and play the one picked by the judges, and six marches, strathspeys and reels and play one of reach twice over.

Judges for the Piobaireachd are Colin MacLellan, William Wotherspoon and Andrew Wright. For the MSR are Malcolm McRae, Ronnie McShannon and John Wilson.

Bob Worrall will take the role of fear an tighe, or master of ceremonies.

The event is sponsored by William Grant & Sons Distillers, purveyors of the contest’s namesake single malt Scotch whisky in its numerous expressions. The company has supported the event and many others for nearly 50 years.

The weekend is populated with several receptions and ceilidhs, each serving only soft drinks.