Three piping legends withdraw, but Uist & Barra carries on with two new invitees

In March 2020, the venerable Uist & Barra Invitational Solo Piping Competition was one of the first significant events to be cancelled because of the pandemic, and now the contest is back on it’s usual schedule as one of the first big competitions of the solo calendar on Saturday, March 4th.

It’s the usual three-event format of Piobaireachd, MSR, and Hornpipe & Jig, and here’s the lineup along with their pre-selected piobaireachds:

• Sandy Cameron, Roy Bridge, Scotland, “The Battle of the Pass of Crieff”
• Jamie Forrester, Haddington, Scotland, “MacKintosh of Borlum’s Salute”
• Finlay Johnston, Glasgow, “The Battle of Auldearn” (setting #1)
• Angus D. MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland, “The End of the Great Bridge”
• Angus J. MacColl, Oban, Scotland, “The Earl of Seaforth’s Salute”
• Sarah Muir, Irvine, Scotland, “The Old Men of the Shells” (setting #1)
• John Mulhearn, Glasgow, “Queen Anne’s Lament”
• Connor Sinclair, Crieff, Scotland, “Lament for the Viscount of Dundee”
• Iain Speirs, Edinburgh, “I Got A Kiss of the King’s Hand”
• Craig Sutherland, Perth, Scotland, “The Park Piobaireachd” (setting #2)

To determine the overall prize, the rankings in Piobaireachd and MSR events are worth five points for first, four for second and so on. The Hornpipe & Jig points are halved, so 2.5 for first, two for second, etc.

Mulhearn and Angus J. MacColl are appearing in the event for the first time, gaining an invitational because of their successes in 2022.

The judges are Ian Duncan, Willie Morrison, and Robert Wallace.

Callum Beaumont, Roddy MacLeod, and Willie McCallum each withdrew from the competition after initially accepting their invitations.

Beaumont said that he had to pull out due to a work commitment that he could not miss.

The competition is being held for the first time at the National Piping Centre’s McPhater Street auditorium.

The event is put on by the Glasgow Uist and Barra Association, an organization started in 1888 to support natives of the outer Hebrides who had moved to Glasgow to find work, including many pipers who helped to make Scotland’s largest city a centre of piping.

Stay tuned to pipes|drums for results from the 2023 Uist & Barra as they become available.