Ten top soloists ready to rock on Saturday at 2025 Uist & Barra

The annual invitational indoor competitions sponsored by the Uist & Barra Association of Glasgow are ready once again to mark the start of the Scottish solo piping season this year on Saturday, March 1st, at the National Piping Centre’s Otago Street location.

Vying for 100-year-old-plus trophies that display many of the greatest names in piping history, including several competing this year:

• Callum Beaumont, St. Andrews, Scotland, “Lament for the Earl of Antrim”
• Glenn Brown, Glasgow, “The Edinburgh Piobaireachd”
• Calum Brown, Aberdeen, Scotland, “A Son’s Salute to His Parents”
• Ben Duncan, Edinburgh, “The Stewarts’ White Banner”
• Jamie Forrester, Haddington, Scotland, “The MacLeans’ March”
• Stuart Liddell, Inveraray, Scotland, “Beloved Scotland”
• Angus D. MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland, “The Red Speckled Bull”
• Willie McCallum, Bearsden, Scotland, “The Old Men of the Shells”
• Sarah Muir, Glasgow, “Lady Margaret MacDonald’s Salute”
• Iain Speirs, Edinburgh, “The King’s Taxes”

Willie Morrison and Bill Wotherspoon will judge both Piobaireachd and MSR events, the aggregate results from which will determine the championship trophy.

Last year, McCallum was the overall winner after a tie with Muir was broken by the Piobaireachd result.

The Uist & Barra Solo Piping Competition is one of the world’s longest-running contests. It is presented by Comunn Uibhist agus Bharraigh Ghlaschu, the Glasgow Uist & Barra Association, which was founded in 1888 as a club for Hebridean Gaelic speakers who moved to Glasgow for work.

John Angus Smith, the Gold Medallist piper and Uist native who has managed the competition for many years said that this would be his last as convener.

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for results from the 2025 Uist & Barra when they become available.