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August 17, 2023

Cameron Bonar: 2023 Pipe Idol Champion

Fifteen-year-old Pipe Idol 2023 winner Cameron Bonar with piping legend Fred Morrison, who sponsored the event. [Photo Alister Sinclair]
Glasgow – August 17, 2023 – After each of the four finalists got through a testing first-round heat, 15-year-old Cameron Bonar of Surrey, British Columbia, won the 2023 Pipe Idol competition for pipers younger than 21 in a packed and sweaty Grand Final in the auditorium of the National Piping Centre’s McPhater Street headquarters.

Bonar beat out fellow finalists Gregor Grierson, 16, Dumfries, Scotland; Camron MacPhail, 17, Islay, Scotland; and Jake Robertson, 17, Aberdeen, Scotland, for the title, as determined by unidentified judges in the audience.

As always, there was only one prize awarded, a set of Reelpipes made by Fred Morrison.

Each piper had to perform an MSR, a Hornpipe & Jig and a maximum five-minute medley, all comprising whatever tunes they wanted to play.

Cameron Bonar with his new Fred Morrison smallpipes. [Photo Alister Sinclair]
Also competing in the 24-piper heats (alphabetically­): Bobby Allen, 19, Moodiesburn, Scotland; Jamie Brownlie, 20, Carstairs Village; Luuk Dekker, 20, Alkmaar, The Netherlands; Reece Doherty, 17, Northern Ireland; Hector Finlayson, 15, Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland; Colin Forrest, 17, Mission, British Columbia; Liam Forrest, 17, Mission, British Columbia; Jean-Sébastien Gamache, 19, Ottawa; Ryan McCreadie, 17, Livingston, Scotland; Brooklyn Morris, 16, Inverkeithing, Scotland; Hector Munro, Edinburgh; Eala Niamh McElhinney, 16, Duntocher, Scotland; Catriona Norman, 18, Scotland; Andrew Pattison, 18, Troon, Scotland; Flynn Porter, 16, Lenzie, Scotland; Katie Robertson, 16, Dundee, Scotland; Rory Robson, Invergordon, Scotland; Magnus Stone, 14, Massachusetts; Daniel Whelan, Melbourne; and Alistair Williams, 20, Dunblane, Scotland.

The Grand Final was live-streamed to a paying audience.

Pipe Idol winners and contestants often go on to enjoy significant solo piping competitive careers. Among them are Calum Brown, Alex Gandy, Connor Sinclair, and Brodie Watson-Massey.

The heats and final were hosted by the ubiquitous and silver-tongued/haired radio personality and piper Fergus Muirhead.

 

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