Field Marshal Montgomery: 2022 World Pipe Band Champions

Glasgow – August 13, 2022 – After two days of stressful competition under scorching sunny and hot conditions for Glasgow, Field Marshal Montgomery of Northern Ireland were crowned World Pipe Band Champions with the best combined results over four separate events – two Medleys and two MSRs – one of each played each day.

It was the thirteenth time winning the World’s for Field Marshal Montgomery and, with it, Pipe-Major Richard Parkes breaks the record of World titles for a Grade 1 pipe-major, previously held by Pipe-Major Ian MacLellan of the Glasgow/Strathclyde Police Pipe Band.

Simon Fraser University won the overall drumming title, the sixth time that Lead-Drummer Reid Maxwell had led a corps to the prize – five times with SFU and once with the 78th Fraser Highlanders.

Field Marshal Montgomery won the Friday Medley event, while 2019 World Champions Inveraray & District took the Saturday MSR. ScottishPower were first in the Friday MSR and Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia won the Saturday Medley.

Buchan Peterson of Aberdeen, Scotland, won Grade 2 against a field of 18 other contestants, while winners of multiple 2022 major championships, Ravara of Northern Ireland, had to settle for second.

Rankings from the 16 Grade 1 judges were frequently scattered, with wide divergences between piping judges and ensemble and drumming judges. Field Marshal Montgomery was able to overcome a tenth place from drumming judge Stuart Coils in the Saturday Medley, and an eighth in drumming in the Friday MSR from Duncan Millar. Simon Fraser University received an eleventh in piping from judge Jim Wark in the Friday MSR, and a seventh in drumming from former SFU member Millar, while the other three judges placed the SFU corps first in the other three events.

Fourteen bands competed in Grade 1, and there were 145 bands overall, a substantially smaller number than pre-pandemic years. The size of the bands themselves was generally smaller, most pipe sections from 14 to 17 members though some featured more than 20 pipers. Drum corps sizes in general did not appear to have been affected much through the two-year hiatus. A few groups featured more drummers than pipers.

The pitch of pipe sections consistently exceeded 490Hz, with a few reaching 494Hz.

Crowd size appeared smaller than pre-pandemic years, and the arena stands were about two-thirds empty for both the MSR and Medley events, perhaps due to far fewer non-UK bands travelling to Scotland. A ticket for the arena was £30.

BBC Scotland live-streamed the Saturday competition for free. Viewer numbers were not known, but the previous day’s Grade 1 events, live-streamed by Inner Ear, were watched by about 2,500 at peak points. Production value was very high, though a BBC camera operator was frequently about a foot away from competing players.

The march-past and prize ceremony, despite far fewer bands, took almost two-and-a-half hours with the whole event finishing at 7:35 pm.

Before the Saturday Grade 1 Medley competition, a tribute band of available players re-enacted the 1970 winning medley performance by Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia, using the original drum scores and mostly accurate pipe tune settings. The performance was to mark 50 years since the competition medley format was introduced. The group didn’t go as far as to perform in number-one dress or with 12 pipers or at a 470Hz pitch, but delivered an entertaining interlude at the lunch break.

On Friday, August 19th, the RSPBA issued a statement that it had calculated the Grade 4B event incorrectly. The 1st Troon Boys Brigade was the true winner of the event, and Syerla & District, who were announced first on the day, was actually second. The association apologized for the advertent error.

pipes|drums also discovered that it had published the incorrect Saturday Grade 1 Medley result, transposing the second and third placings. Field Marshal Montgomery was in fact second on ensemble preference over Inveraray & District. We apologize for the mistake.

Grade 1 (14 competed, fewer points better)
1st Field Marshal Montgomery (46 total points based on judges’ rankings across all four events)
2nd Inveraray & District (Scotland) (50)
3rd ScottishPower (Scotland) (62)
4th St. Laurence O’Toole (Ireland) (68)
5th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland) (74)
6th Simon Fraser University (Canada) (77)
7th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (Scotland) (104)
8th Police Scotland Fife Scotland) (112)
9th Police Scotland & Federation (Scotland) (158)
10th St. Thomas Alumni (USA) (164)
11th 78th Fraser Highlanders (Canada) (175)
12th Johnstone (Scotland) (182)
13th Closkelt (Northern Ireland) (198)
14th City of Dunedin (USA) (210)

World Pipe Band Drumming Champions: Simon Fraser University

Friday
Medley
1st Field Marshal Montgomery (1,1,5,1)
2nd St. Laurence O’Toole (3,3,2,2)
3rd ScottishPower (2,2,6,5)
4th Inveraray & District (4,6,3,3)
5th Simon Fraser University (7,4,1,6)
6th Police Scotland Fife (5,8,4,4)
7th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (6,5,7,7)
8th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (8,7,8,8)
9th St. Thomas Alumni (9,11,10,9)
10th 78th Fraser Highlanders (10,10,9,11)
11th Johnstone (13,9,12,10)
12th Police Scotland & Federation (11,12,11,12)
13th City of Dunedin (12,13,13,13)
14th Closkelt (14,14,14,14)
Judges: Maurice Rhodes, Bob Worrall (piping); Alex Dudgeon (drumming); Tom Brown (ensemble)

MSR
1st ScottishPower (2,5,2,2)
2nd Inveraray & District (5,2,1,4)
3rd Field Marshal Montgomery (3,1,8,1)
4th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (1,7,6,3)
5th St. Laurence O’Toole (9,3,3,5)
6th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (4,6,4,6)
7th Simon Fraser University (EnsPref) (11,4,7,7)
8th Police Scotland (8,8,5,8)
9th Police Scotland & Federation (7,10,9,10)
10th 78th Fraser Highlanders (10,9,11,11)
11th Johnstone (6,14,13,9)
12th St. Thomas Alumni (13,11,10,13)
13th Closkelt (12,13,12,12)
14th City of Dunedin (14,12,14,14)
Judges: Jim Wark, Ken Eller (piping); Duncan Millar (drumming); Alan Ronaldson (ensemble)

Saturday
Medley
1st Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (2,2,3,4)
2nd Field Marshal Montgomery (EnsPref) (1,1,10,1)
3rd Inveraray & District (3,3,4,3)
4th Simon Fraser University (5,5,1,6)
5th St. Laurence O’Toole (4,4,9,2)
6th ScottishPower (6,7,2,5)
7th Police Scotland Fife (EnsPref) (8,8,6,7)
8th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (7,6,8,8)
9th St. Thomas Alumni (10,11,5,10)
10th Police Scotland & Federation (12,10,7,9)
11th 78th Fraser Highlanders (9,9,14,14)
12th Johnstone (13,12,11,11)
13th Closkelt (11,13,12,13)
14th City of Dunedin (14,14,13,12)
Judges: Robert Shaw, Peter Hunt (piping); Stuart Coils (drumming); Jim Baxter (ensemble)

MSR
1st Inveraray & District (1,2,5,1)
2nd Field Marshal Montgomery (2,1,6,3)
3rd Simon Fraser University (7,3,1,2)
4th ScottishPower (3,4,4,5)
5th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (4,7,3,4)
6th St. Laurence O’Toole (5,6,2,6)
7th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (6,5,7,9)
8th Police Scotland Fife (9,9,8,7)
9th Police Scotland & Federation (8,8,9,13)
10th St. Thomas Alumni (10,10,10, 12)
11th Closkelt (11,12,11,10)
12th 78th Fraser Highlanders (13,14,13,8)
13th Johnstone (12,11,12,14)
14th City of Dunedin (14,13,14,11)
Judges: Ross Walker, Cameron Edgar (piping); Lee Innes, (drumming); Jennifer Hutcheon (ensemble)

Aggregate MSR winners: Inveraray & District
Aggregate Medley winners: Field Marshal Montgomery
Aggregate MSR Drumming: St. Laurence O’Toole
Aggregate Medley Drumming: Simon Fraser University

2022 RSPBA Grade 1 Champion of Champions: Field Marshal Montgomery
2022 RSPBA Grade 1 Champion of Champions Drumming: Inveraray & District

Grade 2 (medley, 19 competed)
1st Buchan Peterson (Scotland) (1,1,2,2)
2nd Ravara (Northern Ireland) (2,7,3,1)
3rd Uddingston (Scotland) (7,2,1,4)
4th Royal Burgh of Annan (5,3,4,3)
5th City of Edinburgh (Scotland) (8,4,7,6)
6th Manorcunningham (Ireland) (4,11,6,7)
7th Peel Regional Police (Canada) (11,5,5,8)
8th North Stratton (Canada) (12,12,8,5)
9th Highland Granite (Scotland) (6,6,15,11)
10th Kilchoman Distillery Isle of Islay (Scotland) (3,13,9,14)
11th Los Angeles Scots (USA) (10,8,14,9)
12th St. Mary’s, Derrytrasna (Northern Ireland) (13,10,10,13)
13th Portlethen & District (Scotland) (15,9,13,12)
14th St. Joseph’s (Ireland) (14,15,12,10)
15th City of Discovery (Scotland) (16,14,11,15)
16th Bucksburn & District (Scotland) (9,17,19,16)
17th Mackenzie Caledonian (Scotland) (17,18,16,18)
18th Wallacestone & District (Scotland) (19,16,17,19)
19th Oban (18,19,18,17)
Judges: Barry Donaldson, John Nevans (piping); Paul Brown, (drumming); Tony Sloane (ensemble)

2022 RSPBA Grade 2 Champion of Champions: Buchan Peterson
2022 RSPBA Grade 2 Champion of Champions Drumming: Buchan Peterson

Grade 3A (MSR, 21 competed)
1st Johnstone (Gr3) (Scotland)
2nd Deeside Caledonia (Scotland)
3rd Matt Boyd Memorial (Northern Ireland)
4th Coalburn IOR (Scotland)
5th Tullylagan (Northern Ireland)
6th Clogher & District (Northern Ireland)
Drumming: Tullylagan
Judges: Bill Garrett, Jim Campbell (piping); Duncan Millar (drumming); Robert Mathieson (ensemble)

2022 RSPBA Grade 3A Champion of Champions: Johnstone
2022 RSPBA Grade 3A Champion of Champions Drumming: Denny & Dunipace Association (Scotland)

Grade 3B (MSR, 17 competed)
1st Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Scotland)
2nd Edradour Pitlochry & Blair Atholl (Scotland)
3rd Major Sinclair Memorial (Northern Ireland)
4th Augharan (Northern Ireland)
5th Methil & District (Scotland)
6th Cullybackey (Northern Ireland)
Drumming: Edradour Pitlochry & Blair Atholl
Judges: Terry Lee, Ronnie McShannon (piping); Bill Black (drumming); Paul Turner (ensemble)

2022 RSPBA Grade 3B Champion of Champions: Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
2022 RSPBA Grade 3B Champion of Champions Drumming: Macanta (England)

Juvenile (medley, four competed)
1st Dollar Academy (Scotland)
2nd George Watson’s College (Scotland)
3rd St. Thomas Episcopal School (USA)
4th Preston Lodge High School (Scotland)
Drumming: St. Thomas Episcopal School
Judges: Robert Shaw, Peter Hunt (piping); Stuart Coils (drumming); Jim Baxter (ensemble)

2022 RSPBA Juvenile Champion of Champions: Dollar Academy
2022 RSPBA Juvenile Champion of Champions Drumming: Dollar Academy

Grade 4A (prescribed MSR tunes, 23 competed)
1st Kildoag (Northern Ireland)
2nd Gransha (Northern Ireland)
3rd Brisbane Boys College (Australia)
4th Lower Clyde (Scotland)
5th Durham Regional Police (Canada)
6th Uddingston Strathclyde (Scotland)
Drumming: Gransha
Judges: John Wilson, Mark Faloon (piping); Greg Dinsdale (drumming); Gordon Lawrie (ensemble)

2022 RSPBA Grade 4A Champion of Champions: Lower Clyde
2022 RSPBA Grade 4A Champion of Champions Drumming: Uddingston Strathclyde

Grade 4B (prescribed marches, 12 competed after two qualifying heats)
1st Syerla & District (Northern Ireland)
2nd 1st Troon Boys Brigade (Scotland)
3rd Kilbarchan (Scotland)
4th Black Raven (Ireland)
5th City of Discover (Scotland)
6th Brisbane Boys’ College (Australia)
Drumming: 1st Troon Boys Brigade
Judges: Ken Eller, Jim Wark (piping); David Brown (drumming); Peter Snaddon (ensemble)

2022 RSPBA Grade 4B Champion of Champions: Kilbarchan
2022 RSPBA Grade 4B Champion of Champions Drumming: Kilbarchan

Novice Juvenile A (prescribed MSR tunes, five competed)
1st Dollar Academy (Scotland)
2nd West Lothian School (Scotland)
3rd George Heriot School (Scotland)
4th George Watson’s College (Scotland)
5th Stirling & District Schools (Scotland)
Drumming: George Heriot’s School
Judges: George Wilson, Sam Young (piping); Brian Martin (drumming); Tom Brown (ensemble)

2022 RSPBA Champion of Champions: Dollar Academy
2022 RSPBA Champion of Champions Drumming: George Watson’s College

Novice Juvenile B (prescribed marches, 14 competed)
1st High School of Dundee (Scotland)
2nd North Lanarkshire Schools (Scotland)
3rd St. Columba School (Scotland)
4th Renfrewshire Schools (Scotland)
5th Oban High School (Scotland)
6th Lochgelly High School (Scotland)
Drumming: North Lanarkshire Schools
Judges: George Wilson, Sam Young (piping); Brian Martin (drumming); Tom Brown (ensemble)

2022 RSPBA Champion of Champions: St. Columba School
2022 RSPBA Champion of Champions Drumming: High School of Dundee