The Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming invites young pipers and drummers to apply to participate in the Balmoral Classic: US Junior Solo Bagpiping & Drumming Championships. The competition will be held Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at CRC Understory, Cathedral of Learning, 4200 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.

Pipers will compete in MSR and Pìobaireachd. The competition’s Overall prize is decided by a combination of scores from Pìobaireachd and MSR. The winner will receive a set of MacRae bagpipes donated by McCallum Bagpipes. Drumming trophies will be awarded for MSR, Hornpipe/Jig, and Overall. Prizes for the Overall Winner of the Drumming contest and all other prizes to be announced.

Piping judge Dr. Angus MacDonald of Glenuig, Scotland has won nearly all of the top solo prizes in piping, including the Clasp at Inverness, the Highland Society of London’s Gold Medals, and the Silver Chanter. His compositions are played throughout the world, and he’s a much-respected judge for important solo piping competitions.

Piping judge Matt MacIsaac has been a Pipe Major in the Canadian Forces, a multi-instrumentalist with Natalie McMaster’s band, a sought-after piping instructor, and the P/M of the Grade 2 St. Andrew’s Association in Ontario. He was winner of the 2022 P/M Alasdair Gillies Memorial Recital-Challenge, the first non-Scottish piper to win.

Our complete lineup of piping and drumming judges will be announced when confirmed.

PIPERS APPLY BY OCTOBER 1 at:

Piping Application

DRUMMERS APPLY BY OCTOBER 1 at:

Balmoral Classic Drumming Application

Our Balmoral Classic weekend starts off with the piping and drumming competition on Saturday, 9:00am to 3:00pm, and an awards ceremony after. On Saturday evening, following the competition, Balmoral will present Beòlach in a live concert of Celtic music, with judge Matt MacIsaac featured on pipes, whistles, and guitar. There will be a free Piobaireachd workshop, taught by Dr. Angus MacDonald, open to all 2024 applicants and former Classic competitors, on Sunday morning.

Rooms for Balmoral Classic participants have been set aside at a discounted rate at the Courtyard by Marriott Pittsburgh University Center, 100 Lytton Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA.

The West Point Tattoo is held annually on the grounds of the historic US Military Academy overlooking the scenic Hudson River. A day of performances by pipe bands, highland dancers, and other groups. Bring your picnic blankets, food, and enjoy the day celebrating pipes and drums music. The Tattoo is free and open the public. Tickets are not required.

Bands that are interested in participating need to submit their interest online at: https://forms.office.com/r/8MSm5tqDJc Invitations will be sent out to selected bands during the fall (Sep-Nov). There are no fees, other than your own travel, and we do not pay bands. Performance slots are 10 min long. Massed bands will occur at the daily Retreat ceremony when the post flag is lowered (5pm).

Dublin's St. Laurence O'Toole takes the stage of the Music Hall in Aberdeen, Scotland, for show that the band promises will be a stoater.

Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming will hold a week-long Summer Piping and Drumming Camp, July 14-19, at PennWest-Edinboro University, Edinboro, PA. In small classes and 1-on-1 tutoring sessions, as well as camp-wide activities, students will receive instruction in the Great Highland bagpipe and Scottish snare drum. Interested students may also study Scottish smallpipes, or tenor drum.

Guest instructors for Balmoral's Summer camps have all won major piping, or drumming awards and have incomparable records in the teaching and promotion of solo piping and/or pipe band music around the world. Teaching at PennWest-Edinboro will be:

Roddy MacLeod, MBE (Piping) 10-time winner of the Piobaireachd and 5-time Overall winner at the Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championship. As Pipe Major, he led the Scottish Power Pipe Band to 45 Grade 1 Championship prizes and was Principal of The National Piping Centre from 1996 -2020.

Terry Tully (Piping) is one of the most influential composers of bagpipe music in Ireland. A former Pipe Major of St. Laurence O'Toole Pipe Band, under his leadership, SLOT was the first pipe band from the Republic of Ireland to win the Grade One World Championship.

Miles Bennington (Drumming) - Principal drumming instructor for the CMU Pipe Band, Bennington’s prizes include North American Champion, Canadian Champion, U.S. Champion, EUSPBA Champion, PPBSO Champion Supreme, and top ten at the World Pipe Band Championships.

Staff piping instructors Sean Patrick Regan and Richmond Johnston will join our world-class guest piping instructors at our Edinboro camp, and Balmoral Pipes & Drums drumming instructor, Ian McLeod, will teach drumming alongside Mr. Bennington.

Registration will close June 16, 2023. For more information or to register for the camp, please visit: www.bagpiping.org

In small group classes, 1-on-1 lessons, and camp-wide seminars, students will receive instruction on the Great Highland Bagpipe. Interested students may also study Scottish smallpipes. Guest instructors for Balmoral's Summer camps have all won major piping awards and have incomparable records in the teaching and promotion of solo piping and pipe band music around the world.

Our first session, July 7-12, will be a piping camp at Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA. This beautiful campus is less than two hours from New York City, and one hour 17 minutes from Philadelphia. Teaching at Kutztown will be:

Bruce Gandy, a member of the 78th Fraser Highlanders, the first non-Scottish band to win the World Pipe Band Championships (1987). Bruce’s solo awards include the Canadian Gold Medal, Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting, Gold Medal at Oban, and Bratach Gorm. He is a 3-time winner of the MacCrimmon Memorial Cairn for Piobaireachd.

Derek Midgley has won B Marches and Silver Medal at the Northern Meeting, 2nd Highland Society of London Gold Medal at Oban; Dunvegan Medal, 6/8 Marches & 2/4 Marches at Dunvegan, Overall at the United States Piping Foundation Championship.

Andrew Carlisle, Director of Piping at Carnegie Mellon University, Andrew has won A Grade Strathspey & Reel at Oban, A Grade Piobaireachd & Overall at The Cowal Highland Gathering, US Gold for both Light Music & Piobaireachd, and three All-Ireland titles at Senior level.

Balmoral staff piping instructors Sean Patrick Regan and Richmond Johnston will join our world-class guest instructors at the Kutztown camp. Registration will close June 16, 2023. For more information or to register, please visit: www.bagpiping.org

The Mackenzie Caledonian Pipe Band organization – affectionately known as the "Mac-Cals" – is putting on a show by Willie McCallum, one of the most prize-winning Highland pipers in the history of the instrument on April 26th at the Woodlands Hotel near Broughty Ferry, Scotland, the original home of the Tayside-based band that was founded in 1918.

(Tentative) The Canadian Transportation Museum & Heritage Village provides the backdrop for a totally immersive Highland Games experience. Pipes & Drums, Highland Dancing, Heavy Events, Tug of War, Clan Village, Sheep Herding, Haggis Hurl, 5K Run/Walk, Vendors and so much more.

Forum on the state of pipe band drumming, organized by the Pipers & Band Society of Ontario. Contact education@ppbso.org for details.

James Duncan MacKenzie and Neil Smith taking the stage in Stornoway as part of the Lewis & Harris Piping Society's series of solo piping recitals.

World Solo Drumming qualifying and RSPBA Solo Drumming Champion of Champions event for snare drummers 18 and older.

World Solo Drumming qualifying and RSPBA Solo Drumming Champion of Champions event for snare drummers 18 and older. Full Juvenile and Adult Tenor events.

The Lewis and Harris Piping Society presents Gold Medallist Niall Stewart in a recital on Friday, 26th January, at 7.30 pm, Caladh Hotel, Stornoway.

All solo and band grade competitions.

Strowan Day - South Island Championship

The 13th annual Redding Bagpipe Competition is the largest indoor solo piping competition in WUSPBA. Offering all amatuer grades (1-5), with four events for each grade. This year, the RBC is partnering with the Sun Belt, Sandy Jones Memorial Competition to sponsor the Grade 1 aggregate winner to attend the Sandy Jone. Come and participate or just observe, the first weekend of March at the Red Lion Hotel in Redding, CA.

THE 17TH ANNUAL BALMORAL CLASSIC
Call for Bagpiping Competitors, Age 21 and Under

Pittsburgh’s Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming invites young pipers to apply to participate in the 2023 Balmoral Classic: US Junior Solo Bagpiping Championship. Pipers will compete in MSR and in Pìobaireachd. The competition’s Overall prize is decided by a combination of scores from Pìobaireachd and MSR.

Our 2023 panel of distinguished judges includes:

John Cairns (Canada) was the first person from outside of Scotland to win the two Highland Society of London Gold Medals for solo piping at Oban and Inverness. He has won numerous other prizes, including eight Pipers’ and Pipe Band Society of Ontario Champion Supreme designations, three North American Champion titles, the Bratach Gorm, the Piobaireachd Society Canadian Gold Medal, Bar to the Gold Medal and Former Winners March, Strathspey & Reel Contest, three Livingstone Invitational Contests, and three Fergus Gold Medals for Light Music.

Scot Walker (USA) was rated #1 Overall Professional Piping Competitor for seven years running by the EUSPBA. He has won 1st at nearly all the major North American Solo Championships, and in Scotland at games in Dornoch, Strathpeffer, Lonach and Cowel. A 4th-generation player with many years of experience, Scot served as Pipe Major of the Lehigh Valley Pipe Band for 20 years, and played with Lomond and Clyde Pipe Band in Glasgow, Scotland until 2016. He is a member of the EUSPBA judges' panel, and is a published composer.

Glenna Mackay-Johnstone (Canada) grew up in a piping household as a daughter of the late, great Ontario piper, Reay Mackay. She has played at the highest levels in both solo and band competition. She was a member of the 78th Fraser Highlanders, participating in many World Championships and a host of North American Championship. Glenna is a judge with the Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario and was a member of the organization’s Music Committee for several years. Both of her children are accomplished pipers, rising fast in both solos and bands

APPLY BY OCTOBER 9 at:

Piping Application

The competition will be held on Saturday, November 5, 2023, from 9:00am to 4:30pm. An awards ceremony will follow at 5:00pm. The venue will be the Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh, 4200 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.

There will be a free Piobaireachd workshop with John Cairns—open to all 2023 applicants and former Classic competitors—on Sunday morning, November 5.

World Solo Drumming qualifying and RSPBA Solo Drumming Champion of Champions event for snare drummers 18 and older.

All Grades & D/M

Band grades 4,3,2,1 & D/M

All grades of pipe band competitions

Pipe band grades 4,3,2, J, N/J & D/M

Hosted by the RSPBA Dundee, Perth and Angus Branch

American Pipe Band Championships for Grade 2 and Grade 3 bands.

July 16-21, the Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming will hold a summer piping and drumming camp at the PennWest campus in Edinboro, PA. The camp will provide opportunities for individual and group instruction, as well as camp-wide activities suitable for all ages, and will feature a stellar lineup of piping and drumming instructors.

Roddy MacLeod, MBE (Scotland) 10-time winner of the Piobaireachd and 5-time Overall winner at the Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championship. As Pipe Major, he led the Scottish Power Pipe Band to 45 Grade 1 Championship prizes and was Principal of The National Piping Centre from 1996 -2020.

Bruce Gandy (Canada) was a member of the 78th Fraser Highlanders, the first non-Scottish band to win the World Pipe Band Championships (1987). Solo awards include the Canadian Gold Medal, Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting, Gold Medal at Oban, and Bratach Gorm. He is a 3-time winner of the MacCrimmon Memorial Cairn for Piobaireachd.

Andrew Carlisle (Northern Ireland/Pittsburgh) Director of Piping at Carnegie Mellon University, Andrew has won A Grade Strathspey & Reel at Oban, A Grade Piobaireachd & Overall at The Cowal Highland Gathering, US Gold Medals for both Light Music & Piobaireachd, and three All-Ireland titles at Senior level.

Jon Quigg (USA) - In 1989, Jon became Drum Sergeant of the CoW Pipe Band, helping them garner numerous North American contest wins, culminating in their winning performance at the 1999 World Pipe Band Championships. He has taken part in recording projects and drumming clinics around the globe.

Staff piping instructors Sean Patrick Regan and Richmond Johnston will join Balmoral’s distinguished guest instructors. Registration is open and will close June 16, 2023. For more information or to register, please visit: www.bagpiping.org