$1000 for NZ Young Piper of the Year 2019

If you’re a promising piper who hasn’t yet turned 21 and fancy a shot at a NZD$1,000 cash prize, then the New Zealand Young Piper of the Year competition is ready and waiting for you, regardless of where you live.

The one-day contest on October 5, 2019, in Nelson, with the prize list aggregated from Piobaireachd and MSR events in which players have to submit two tunes in each genre and play one.

The judges will be Bain McGregor, Stewart McKenzie, Daniel Milosavljevic and Brian Switalla.

Typically, contestants come from New Zealand and occasionally Australia. Last year’s winner of the Young Piper competition was Campbell Wilson of Christchurch.

With the increased prize money, organizers are hoping for a larger entry, and even the possibility of attracting a few northern hemisphere pipers looking for a great antipodean family vacation in one of the world’s most beautiful countries.

Also on offer are a full slate of events across other amateur grades, and a B-Grade Piobaireachd, which is not a qualifier for the 2020 Silver Medal competitions at the Argyllshire Gathering and Northern Meeting in Scotland.

Those in the Young Piper of the Year contest can also compete in a submit two Hornpipe & Jig event in a concert setting in the evening that will be live-streamed. The results from the Hornpipe & Jig do not count toward the Young Piper of the Year title.

The event is the fourth of five competitions held throughout the year in New Zealand that are qualifying events for the William Boyle Foundation Award, a scholarship that awards a cash prize and return airfares to Scotland awarded for the under 21 piper aggregating the most points across New Zealand competitions held in Waipu, Hastings, Dunedin, Christchurch and, newly added this year, Nelson. The winner of the scholarship will be announced at the New Zealand Silver Chanter competitions in Christchurch on October 27.

Entries to the Young Piper of the Year competition close on August 20 and can be made here.

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