Uist & Barra to kick off Scottish solo year with top-tier invitees

The annual Glasgow Uist & Barra Association Invitational Piping Competition will again mark the first significant event of the Scottish solo piping calendar, and the 2015 contest on March 7th at the College of Piping will feature almost all of the UK-based top prize-winners at the major solo events of 2014.

Chris Armstrong, Callum Beaumont, Glenn Brown, Bill Geddes, Alisdair Henderson, Faye Henderson, Finlay Johnston, Angus MacColl, Roddy MacLeod, Willie McCallum, Peter McCalister, Gordon McCready, Douglas Murray, Iain Speirs, Craig Sutherland and Gordon Walker will vie for the prizes in Piobaireachd, MSR and Hornpipe & Jig events, but with a limit of 14 in each section Faye Henderson and McCalister will compete only in the Piobaireachd and Alisdair Henderson and Sutherland only in the light music.

The event moved to an invitational format in 2002, and moved away from an Open event in the mid-1990s to be available only to those graded A or Premier by the Competing Pipers Association.

“There are no plans to return to an entry-based event at the moment,” said organizer John-Angus Smith, “and there are no plans for [the competition] to be put forward as a qualifier for the Glenfiddich.”

Smith said that they hope to organize a live stream of the event.