Oceania Drumming Championships return to Christchurch

April 5, 2025, will be the date of the second annual Oceania Adult Solo Drumming Championship, the competition returning to Christchurch as part of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s Champion of Champions league for the world’s best pipe band drummers.

The inaugural 2024 Oceania Championship saw only the top two snare finishers qualify for the World Solo Snare Drumming Championship, the 2025 event expands to the top four places getting a bye to the World’s semi-final.

The events are run under RSPBA rules and management in collaboration with Royal New Zealand Pipe Bands’ Association Drumming Co-Ordinator Adam Alexander. Accredited RSPBA drumming judges assess the MSR qualifying event.

In addition to the Adult snare section, the Oceania will include a full slate of juvenile snare contests and an adult tenor drumming competition.

Steven Shedden, lead drummer of Grade 1 Hawthorn in Australia, and Scott Birrell of New Zealand were the 2024 Oceania’s first- and second-place winners, respectively.

Full details of the 2025 Champion of Champions Solo Drumming League have not been announced. The 2024 competitions comprised eight events, including the World Solos, and points are accrued for the final calculation.

The 2024 Champion of Champions Solo Drumming League was won by Kerr McQuillan, lead-drummer of Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia.