Results

Greighlan Crossing Grade 3, the top contested band event, and Alastair Lee of Surrey, British Columbia, won the aggregate in the Open solo piping grade at the annual Bellingham Scottish Gathering. Weather was warm and dry on the unusually dusty grounds.

Overall CLASP winners (L-R): Donald Morrison (Grad …

On a sunny but chilly day under the trees, 13 competed in the senior solo piping events. Ultimately it was Ben Duncan of Edinburgh who gained the most aggregate points.

Brendon Eade of Auckland was the overall winner of the King’s Birthday Solo Piping Championships (formerly the Queen’s Birthday Championship), host to the New Zealand Open Solo Championships, with Greg Wilson of Tai Tapu, New Zealand, the runner-up.

Field Marshal Montgomery was the Grade 1 winner of the Mid-Ulster Pipe Band Championships, held on the grounds of Cookstown High School in a three-band medley competition. St. Laurence O’Toole took the drumming. It was the first competition for Field Marshal Montgomery, and the first under the band’s new leading-drummer, Gareth McLees.

The 2023 Scottish Fest at Costa Mesa, just south of Los Angeles, saw 15 bands and more than 130 solo contestants competing for the prizes. Ultimately, the Silicon Valley Pipe Band took both top-level events, and Californian Seamus Coyne took the aggregate Professional Solo Piping. Grade 1 overall went to Malachi Johannsen, Grade 2: Noah Mittwer, Grade 3: Lars Lund, Grade 4 17 & Under: Logan Gorsuch, Grade 4 18 & Over: Andrew Reynolds. Crowd attendance exceeded expectations and the weather was typically Southern California excellent all weekend.

The Peel Regional Police of Ontario won Grade 2 both days with straight first placings at the annual Alma Highland Festival, traditionally held over the American Memorial Day weekend. Seventeen bands in total competed in warm and sunny weather with a good crowd gathered to take in the music. There were no Grade 1 or Grade 3 competitions.

Under bright sunny skies, the first significant Scottish outdoor solo piping competition of 2023 was held at the annual Atholl Gathering in the shadow of Blair Castle on the Duke of Atholl’s estate. Roddy MacLeod of Glasgow had the most success overall, winning the Premier & A-Grade Piobaireachd and taking second in the Open MSR, while Edinburgh’s Ben Duncan and Angus D. MacColl of Benderloch, Scotland, took the MSR and Hornpipe & Jig, respectively. Due to the large entry, the Open light music was run in heats, judged by the judges who made up the benches for the finals, with one on each heat.

The Internet – May 6-26, 2023 – Scotland’s Competi …

Victoria, British Columbia – May 20-21, 2023 – The …

The David M. Bailiff Memorial Trophy was presented to Nick Hudson in honour of the long-time Piping & Drumming Director of the games who passed away in September 2022. Bailiff was an accomplished piper, a judge with the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association, a member of the EUSPBA’s Music Board, and a loyal fan of the Baltimore Orioles.

Despite a hard rain shower and some drizzle around 9 am, the weather proved friendly for a great day the Saskatchewan Highland Gathering & Celtic Festival. There was a full slate of amateur solo entries from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and 11 bands played in the afternoon events. Calgary’s Rocky Mountain prevailed in the three-band Grade 2 event, playing for the first time with their new lead-drummer, Ian Aastrom, who was recruited after seeing the pipes|drums story about the band’s search

Inveraray & District took the Grade 1 competition against seven other Grade 1 and Grade 2 bands at the inaugural Pipe Band & Drum Majors competition at Dollar Academy, hosted and organized by the RSPBA’s Dundee, Perth & Angus Branch. Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia won the drumming for the second straight 2023 competition under new Lead-Drummer Kerr McQuillan.

Liam Kernaghan (left) and Greg Wilson at a 2022 co …

Cameron Dawson (centre) receives the 2023 Saskatch …