Intercontinental Snare Drumming Championship promises to be a belter Feb. 17 in Newark
This year, the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s Intercontinental Adult Snare Drumming Championship is moving to New Jersey on February 17th at the Holiday Newark Airport hotel as the first event in the organization’s Adult Snare Drumming Champion of Champions circuit.
The contest will be hosted by the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association, as it was in 2023 in Dunedin, Florida. The 2024 edition is running in sync with the annual Metro Cup Solo Piping Competition.
As with the other RSPBA Adult Snare Drumming Championship events from now until the autumn, the top finishers from each event will advance to the Semi-Final of the World Solo Drumming Championships in October in Glasgow.
In the Intercontinental Championship, no fewer than three snare drummers have gained a top-six finish at the World Solo Drumming, including reigning champion Kerr McQuillan of Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia and eleven-time World Champion Steven McWhirter of Inveraray & District. Derek Cooper gained a prize in the 2022 World Solos, and other competitors have reached the event’s final.
The RSPBA has announced the draw for the contest:
- Michael O’Rouke, New York Metro
- Gordon Bell, Kenmure
- William Pastor, Kenmure
- Derek Cooper, Ulster Scottish
- Eric MacNeill, City of Dunedin
- Blair Beaton, 78th Fraser Highlanders
- Wesley Cole, 78th Fraser Highlanders
- Alex Kuldell, MacMillan
- Kyle Wardell, 78th Fraser Highlanders
- Kerr McQuillan
- Steven McWhirter
- Miles Bennington, Carnegie Mellon University
- Scott Fletcher, Inverary & District
McQuillan was voted Drummer of the Year in the 2023 pipes|drums New Year’s Honours. McWhrter has been named pipes|drums Drummer of the Year a record nine times.
The Champion of Champions circuit was announced last year and comprises eight events. The results go towards an aggregate prize at the end of the year, encouraging drummers to compete in as many events as possible:
- Intercontinental Solo Drumming Championship
- Scottish Solo Drumming Championship
- British Solo Drumming Championship
- UK Solo Drumming Championship
- European Solo Drumming Championship
- Oceania Solo Drumming Championship
- Pacific Rim Solo Drumming Championship
- World Solo Drumming Championship
Stay tuned to pipes|drums for results from the Intercontinental Solo Drumming Championship and the Metro Cup Solo Piping events as they become available.
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