Krogh soars at Redding Online Solo Piping

The Internet – March 6, 2021 – The annual Redding Solo Piping Competition kept going uninterrupted by the pandemic with an online version of the 10-year-old event, seeing Teddy Krogh of Anchorage, Alaska, winning the aggregate prize with two first- and two second-prizes over the four events.

In an unusual move, Charlie Morris of Agoura, California, originally featured in three of the prize lists was later disqualified by the Western United States Pipe Band Association, which sanctioned the contest. Morris reportedly did not have his upgrade to Professional officially completed in time, which was discovered when the lists were being reviewed by the WUSPBA. Rather than move everyone up in the prizes, the organizers asked to list the DQ.

The event is sponsored by the St. Florian Pipers Society and was conducted in a combination of formats, with the light music held live via Zoom and the Piobaireachd event completed via submitted video recordings. The Zoom events were held simultaneously, making use of the platform’s “breakout rooms.”

More than 90 pipers registered for the competition, contestants from Australia, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States taking part.

“There definitely were some lessons learned,” said organizer Charles Martin. “Zoom breakout rooms are a great format that allowed competitors to move to each event in the same way as a live competition. Technology is great but still a limiting factor. The use of virtual backgrounds, now common in Zoom Meetings, had some competitors fading in and out of their chosen pictures while they played! Poor internet connections and sound setups hampered many competitor’s performances, and the backup video proved necessary. With the virtual format likely to stick around even after COVID-19 restrictions end, players need to test drive and fine-tune their sound and visual setups before competition day.”

The St. Andrews Society of San Francisco Foundation provided the prize money for the professional events.

Piobaireachd
1st Teddy Krogh, “Nameless – Hiharin Dro o Dro”
2nd Ryan Murray, Sacramento, California
3rd Alastair Murray, Moon Township, Pennsylvania
4th Andrew Donlon, Washington, DC
5th Douglas Gardiner, Edinburgh
6th Brad Davidson, Waterloo, Ontario

MSR
1st Callum Wynd, Glasgow
2nd Teddy Krogh
3rd Andrew Donlon
4th DQ
5th Tony Adkins
6th Brad Davidson

Hornpipe & Jig
1st Teddy Krogh
2nd Andrew Donlon
3rd DQ
4th Callum Wynd
5th Mark Elliott
6th Tony Adkins

6/8 March
1st Andrew Donlon
2nd Teddy Krogh
3rd Callum Wynd
4th DQ
5th Tony Adkins
6th Brad Davidson

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