Players lined up for Sun Belt and Sandy Jones Amateur invitationals

The third annual Sun Belt Invitational Solo Piping Competition will take place on November 9th at the Orlando Sheraton North Hotel and the 10 contestants have been firmed, along with the tunes they’ll be playing in the Piobaireachd event:

• Callum Beaumont, St. Andrews, Scotland, “Lament for MacLeod of Colbeck”
• Glenn Brown, Glasgow, “The Edinburgh Piobaireachd”
• Alex Gandy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, “A Son’s Salute to His Parents”
• Bruce Gandy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, “The MacDougalls’ Gathering”
• Angus MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland, “Lament for Patrick Og MacCrimmon”
• Willie McCallum, Bearsden, Scotland, “Lachlan MacNeil Campbell of Kintarbert’s Fancy”
• Ben McClamrock, Washington, DC, “Lament for Ronald MacDonald of Morar”
• Derek Midgley, Tinton Falls, New Jersey, “The Prince’s Salute”
• Connor Sinclair, Crieff, Scotland, “The Unjust Incarceration”
• Alen Tully, Dublin, “The Marquis of Argyll’s Salute”

Each will also perform a medley of their construction. The total prize pool is more than US$6,000.

In the Pipe-Major Sandy Jones Amateur Championship, these pipers have qualified by winning designated events in North America over the year:

• Karl Fetter, Jamestown, North Carolina
• Malachi Johannsen, Modesto, California
• Liam Horne, Wise, Virginia
• Thomas McCollum, Michigan
• Katherine Miller, Florida
• Ian Minnear, Houston
• Magnus Stone, Natick, Massachusetts
• Mic Trenor, Columbus, Ohio
• Joey Votta, Absecon, New Jersey
• Adam Weghorn, New Zealand

The event is also offering two contests for practice chanter players 14 years old and younger: The William McCallum Sr. Memorial March (two parts any time signature) and the Pipe-Major Donald MacLeod Memorial Piobaireachd Ground (play the urlar of a piobaireachd composed by Donald MacLeod).

Judges for both Sun Belt events will be Ian Duncan, Jim Stack and Bob Worrall. Angus MacColl and Connor Sinclair will asses the P-M Sandy Jones Amateur events.

The “Bar Room Brawl,” where any pipers can compete playing a freestyle medley judged by the audience, will take place after the more formal events at 6 pm in the An Tobar Pub of the Orlando Sheraton North Hotel.

Bruce Gandy was the winner of the 2023 Sun Belt Invitational.