Nicol-Brown presses ahead with 10 invitees settled

The coronavirus crisis isn’t deterring the organizers of the Nicol-Brown Amateur Invitational Solo Piping Competition from going ahead and, with the overall amateur winner of the New Hampshire Highland Games determined, the 10 contestants have been settled:

• Sandy Adams, Vancouver (BCPA)
• Jessica Bain, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (ACPBA)
• Kevin Darmadi, Houston (EUSPBA)
• Ross Davison, Ottawa (PPBSO)
• Tyler Destremps, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (EUSPBA)
• Justin Howland, Salt Lake City, Utah (WUSPBA)
• Liam Macdonald, Wellesley, Ontario (PPBSO)
• Stuart H. Marshall, Stokesdale, North Carolina (EUSPBA)
• Laura J. Neville, North Hanover, New Jersey (EUSPBA)
• Henry Paluch, Aurora, Ontario (PPBSO)

Alistair Bevan of Abbotsford, British Columbia, (BCPA) and Charlie Morris of Agoura Hills, California, (WUSPBA) were invited but decided that they could not participate.

Each competitor will play in three events: Piobaireachd, MSR and 6/8 Marches.

The piobaireachd judges will be Jack Taylor of Aboyne, Scotland, and Patrick Molard of Maël-Carhaix, Brittany, and the light music judges are Sarah Muir of Glasgow and Matt MacIsaac of Stayner, Ontario.

In addition to the special invitation given to the overall amateur piping winner at the New Hampshire Highland Games (Ross Davison), invitees are determined by results from the year’s various competitions, as recommended by North American piping and drumming associations, the number of players commensurate with the size of the organization.

The contest was started in 1982 and has been the inspiration for other similar events around the world. Last year’s Nicol-Brown was held in Troy, New York, and the 2020 edition was to be held in the more central Philadelphia, but the COVID-19 situation forced the organizers to move to an online version. The exact format of the competition is still to be decided, but it is believed to be by uploaded recorded video. The results are to be announced on October 10th.

The event will also hold master classes with the judges by live video, a perk for competitors.

Blaise Theriault of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, was the 2019 Nicol-Brown champion.

The Nicol-Brown is run by a cadre of volunteers, and supported by numerous sponsors. Non-profit pipes|drums Magazine is once again sponsoring the event.

The Ontario-based George Sherriff Amateur Invitational, which was started many years after the Nicol-Brown and uses the same format, was recently cancelled outright.

Related

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Blaise Theriault: 2019 Nicol-Brown Amateur Champion
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