Glenfiddich 10 primed for Saturday; streaming live

The 10 contestants for the 42nd annual Glenfiddich Invitational Solo Piping Championship are putting the final polish on their tunes and pipes in preparation for the competition at Blair Castle on Saturday, October 24th, in Blair Atholl, Scotland.

And pipes|drums readers have only a few days left to submit their entry for the magazine’s Pick The Glenfiddich Five contest, in which one canny piper, drummer or enthusiast will win a custom made-to-measure kilt from R.G. Hardie & Co., with a retail value of $720.

Helen Wilkinson, marketing officer with the National Piping Centre, confirmed that the event will once again be streamed live on the net, accessible from the Centre’s website. While the stream is free, donations are encouraged, with all money again going to the annual Donald MacLeod Memorial Solo Piping Competition in Stornoway, Scotland, a non-profit event on April 8th that celebrates the music of the late great piper.

In addition to the piping performances, interviews with contestants, judges and others will be conducted with stream host Fergus Muirhead. Bob Worrall will be the host of the competition itself.

This year’s Glenfiddich contestants and their qualifying record for this year’s event:

• Callum Beaumont, Bo’ness, Scotland – Clasp, Northern Meeting, and overall winner, Scottish Piping Society of London
• Bruce Gandy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada – Former Winners’ MSR, Northern Meeting
• Finlay Johnston, Glasgow – Highland Society of London Gold Medal, Northern Meeting
• Jack Lee, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada – Bratach Gorm, Scottish Piping Society of London
• Stuart Liddell, Inveraray, Scotland – Senior Piobaireachd, Argyllshire Gathering, and 2014 Glenfiddich Champion
• Angus MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland – Former Winners’ MSR, Argyllshire Gathering
• Roddy MacLeod, Glasgow – Masters Invitational
• Willie McCallum, Bearsden, Scotland – second prize, Former Winners MSR, Northern Meeting
• John-Angus Smith, London – Highland Society of London Gold Medal, Argyllshire Gathering
• Iain Speirs, Edinburgh – second prize, Senior Piobaireachd, Argyllshire Gathering

Judges for the events are. for the Piobaireachd, Iain Morrison, John Wilson and Bill Wotherspoon and, for the MSR, Colin MacLellan, Iain MacLellan and Andrew Wright.