NWJPB didn’t compete as a band at the Annual Gathering for the first time since 2005 due to an unfortunate lack of drumming music and some other challenges the band is working to address quickly, however several band members attended the event and saw great success in solo piping and drumming competitions.
Grade 4 Side Drumming 2/4 March: 1st Place: Morgan M.
Grade 4 Side Drumming 6/8 March: 2nd Place: Robbie G. 3rd Place: Morgan M
Grade 4 Side Drumming Aggregate Winner (most combined points): Morgan M, tie, winning the BC Pipers’ Association Shield.
Grade 3 Side Drumming 6/8 March: 2nd Place Bryce K
Grade 3 Side Drumming MSR: 3rd Place Bryce K
Grade 2 Side Drumming Hornpipe & Jig: 1st Place Amber S
Grade 2 Side Drumming MSR: 3rd Place Amber S
Grade 4 Piping 2/4 March: 4th Place Marcus D
Grade 4 Piping Strathspey & Reel: 2nd Place Megan M, 3rd Place Paul V
Grade 3 Piping Strathspey & Reel: 2nd Place Saul G
Grade 2 Piping Piobaireachd: 1st Place Aaron S winning the Ian Charles Macleod Memorial Shield.
Grade 2 Piping March, Strathspey & Reel: 1st Place Aaron S, winning the William Lamont Memorial Trophy, presented in memory of Bill Lamont, Past President of the BCPA
Grade 2 Piping Hornpipe & Jig: 3rd Place Aaron S.
Grade 2 Piping Aggregate Winner: Aaron S, winning the Heather MacInnes Collins Memorial Trophy
MOST OVERALL POINTS of any grade, piping or drumming: Aaron S, winning the solid brass MacIver Memorial Trophy, first awarded in 1944 in memory of Donald MacIver, founding member of the BCPA.
Grade 1 Piping Jig: 1st Place Alexander Schiele winning the Donald & Kathleen MacLeod Memorial Trophy
Grade 1 Piping March, Strathspey & Reel: 5th Place Alexander Schiele
It was an exciting day for all competitors. The band contest was exciting to watch; with very strong competitors across the board in the Grade 4 competition group and 15 performances altogether. Snow remarkably started at the end of the contest and that encouraged many Washington State area pipers and drummers to leave before spending much time at the Ceilidh afterward, unfortunately, but luckily the snow was mosty centralized on the hill that Simon Fraser University campus sits on.
Congratulations to all competitors for once again demonstrating some of the best talent in piping and drumming in the world, and thanks to all the volunteers in the British Columbia Pipers’ Association for staging a remarkable event for the 78th Annual event. Senior Adjudicators included Stuart Liddell and Steven McWhirter, formerly of SFU Pipe Band, who lead Inverary & District Pipe Band from Novice Juvenile to Juvenile, Grade 2, and finally Grade 1 over the last several years, who have just placed 2nd in their first band competition in Grade 1 last week. See more biography about Stuart and Steven on the IDPB roster page. Adding to that remarkable talent from Scotand, BCPA brought Bruce Gandy, a Victoria area native and one of the world’s top pipers over from Halifax, Nova Scotia. It’s not cheap or easy to bring the best talent from around the world to the Northwest to teach and provide performance feedback and adjudication, but it’s a valuable experience for the dedicated musicians who work year round to prepare some of the best musical performances in the world right here in our area. It takes investment and dedication to ensure we continue to grow piping and drumming talent in our region.
