RNZPBA release details of new Oceania Solo Drumming Championship June 29th

As part of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s new eight-contest Champion of Champions League, the Royal New Zealand Pipe Bands’ Association has released details of the Oceania Solo Drumming Championship.

The competition will be on June 29, 2024, at St. Andrew’s College in Christchurch and offers more southern hemisphere drummers an opportunity to qualify for the World Solo Drumming Championships in Glasgow in October.

As with the Intercontinental Solo Drumming Championship, held February 17th in Newark, New Jersey, the Oceania will be run under strict RSPBA rules, meaning that contestants will be judged on a single MSR performance.

“It’s another step in supporting the New Zealand pipe band community to reach its full potential.” – RNZPBA President Iain Blakeley

“This is a huge opportunity for New Zealand and we are incredibly grateful to the RSPBA for granting us the chance to host the first Oceania Solo Drumming Championship,” RNZPBA President Iain Blakeley said in a statement. “We have world-class drummers in New Zealand and around the Pacific. To have a qualifier for the World Solo Drumming Championships right on our doorstep presents an opportunity many of our drummers wouldn’t normally get. It’s another step in supporting the New Zealand pipe band community to reach its full potential.”

Unlike the Intercontinental, which saw the top four finishers gain a bye to the semi-final of the World Solos, only the first and second prizewinners at the Oceania will qualify for the World’s.

The Oceania won’t be the only drumming contest in Christchurch that weekend. The Otautahi Solo Drumming Championship, hosted by the Canterbury Drummers Club, will also be held at St. Andrew’s College.

Competitors can play in as many of the eight Champion of Champions events as they wish, accruing points toward the overall title.

In addition to the Intercontinental and the Oceania, the other events in the league are:

• March 30 – Scottish Solo Drumming Championship, Livingston, Scotland
• April 20 – European Solo Drumming Championship, Lochgelly, Scotland
• June 15 – Pacific Rim Solo Drumming Championship, Coquitlam, British Columbia
• August 12 – British Solo Drumming Championship, Glasgow
• September 7 – UK Solo Drumming Championship, Northern Ireland
• October 19 – World Solo Drumming Championship, Glasgow

Kerr McQuillan was the winner of the Intercontinental Solo Drumming Championship, and Steven McWhirter, Blair Beaton and Derek Cooper also gained byes to the World Solo Drumming semi-final.