Callum Beaumont: 2024 Glenfiddich Champion

Blair Atholl, Scotland – October 26, 2024 – Against nine other elite solo pipers, Callum Beaumont of St. Andrews, Scotland, was the winner of the 2024 Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championships, held again at the Great Hall of Blair Castle in Scotland’s rolling and verdant Perthshire countryside during an always spectacular autumn.

It was Beaumont’s second consecutive time winning the championship and his second time overall.

After winning the prize, he commented that 2024 has been “the best year of his life,” adding that getting married only a few weeks ago was the biggest highlight, followed by the Glenfiddich. He had only a few days between a honeymoon in Dubai and the competition.

Stuart Liddell of Inveraray, Scotland, was second overall, and  Nick Hudson of Houston was third.

With the win, Beaumont secures the first spot in the 2025 Glenfiddich Championship. Each contestant gains an invitation to the event by winning designated qualifying contests in the UK throughout the year.

It was the fifty-first running of the event, generally accepted as the world’s most significant invitational solo piping competition. The 2024 edition was the first run by the National Piping Centre. The Glenfiddich was passed to the Piping Centre last year after William Grant & Sons and, more recently, the William Grant Foundation organized it. The event was the brainchild of Seumas MacNeill, who secured its sponsorship and title and organized the contest in its early years.

The event was managed by Helen Urquhart of the National Piping Centre for the first time. Liz Maxwell of the William Grant Foundation had coordinated the competition for all but a few of the last 50 years.

Piobaireachd
1st Stuart Liddell, “The Unjust Incarceration”
2nd Finlay Johnston, Milngavie, Scotland, “Donald Gruamach’s March”
3rd Callum Beaumont, “Lament for Donald Ban MacCrimmon”
4th Nick Hudson, Houston, “Lament for the Laird of Anapool”
5th Alan Bevan, Abbotsford, British Columbia, “In Praise of Morag”
Judges: Ian Duncan, Murray Henderson, John Wilson

MSR (repeat each tune)
1st Callum Beaumont, “Mrs. Duncan MacFadyen,” “Inveraray Castle,” “Bessie McIntyre”
2nd Alasdair Henderson, Edinburgh, “Donald MacLellan of Rothesay,” “Bob of Fettercairn,” “The Sheepwife”
3rd Nick Hudson, “Parker’s Welcome to Perthshire,” “Kirstie McCalman’s Favourite,” “Drumlithie”
4th Chris Armstrong, Glasgow, “The Lochaber Gathering,” “The Bob of Fettercairn” (six-part John Wilson [Edinburgh/Toronto] arrangement), “Willie Murray’s”
5th Stuart Liddell, “Bonnie Ann,” “John Roy Stewart,” “John Morrison, Assynt House”
Judges: Angus MacDonald (Skye), Iain MacFadyen, Richard Parkes

Also competing: Cameron Drummond, Edinburgh; Roddy MacLeod, Glasgow; and Craig Sutherland, Glasgow.

Before the piping prizes were announced, Ian Duncan was awarded the Balvenie Medal for his lifetime of service to piping. Duncan gave an emotional and heartfelt speech, highlighting many who contributed to his piping career. Strathallan School Director of Piping & Drumming Craig Muirhead and Bob Worrall, who emceed the event, jointly presented the award.