Best of solo piping and drumming converge on ‘Super Saturday’

The biggest two events of the solo seasons for pipers and drummers occur on October 28 with the Glenfiddich Invitational Solo Championships and the World Solo Drumming Championships being held in, respectively, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Competing at the “The Glenfiddich” is generally considered to tbe ultimate goal of a solo piper’s competitive career. The contest pits the top 10 prize-winners of the year, starting with the aggregate winner of last year’s Glenfiddich.



Invitations are gained by winning marquee events, as determined by the contest’s organizing committee. 2006 competitors and their qualifying successes are:

• Alastair Dunn, Glasgow – Northern Meeting Gold Medal winner
• Murray Henderson, Kirriemuir, Scotland – Clasp winner
• Willie McCallum, Bearsden, Scotland – 2005 Glenfiddich Champion and Silver Star at the Northern Meeting
• Angus MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland – second in the Clasp
• Euan MacCrimmon, Inverness, Scotland – Silver Chanter winner
• Roddy MacLeod, Cumbernauld, Scotland – Senior Piobaireachd winner and Former Winners’ MSR at the Argyllshire Gathering
• Allan Russell, Kelty, Scotland – second in the Argyllshire Gathering Former Winners’ MSR
• Iain Speirs, Edinburgh – second in the Argyllshire Gathering Senior Piobaireachd
• Pipe-Major Gordon Walker, Moscow, Scotland – Bratach Gorm winner
• Greg Wilson, New Zealand – Argyllshire Gathering Gold Medal winner

Also on Saturday is the World Solo Drumming Championship at the Monkstown Community School, Monkstown, Northern Ireland.

Prize-winners from last year’s World Solo Championships pre-qualify for the final. Jim Kilpatrick of the House of Edgar-Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band will be vying for a record seventeenth World title.

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for results from these events as they are made available.

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