Four of the major piobaireachd competitions in world piping were held today in Oban, Argyll.
Gold Medal
1 Jamie Forrester, Phantom Piper of the Corrieyairick, £550
2 Sandy Cameron, End of the High Bridge, £400
3 John Mulhearn, Daughter’s Lament, £250
4 Sean McKeown, Prince’s Salute, £200
5 Derek Midgley, Lord Lovat’s Lament, £150
Judges: A Forbes, M Henderson, R Worrall
Silver Medal
1 Calum Watson, Big Spree, £350
2 Calum Brown, Nameless, Cherede Darievea, £300
3 Jonathon Simpson, Viscount of Dundee, £150
4 Anna Kummerlow, Flame of Wrath, £100
5 John Dew, Isabel MacKay, £60
Judges: R Barnes, I Duncan, R Wallace
Senior Piobaireachd
1 Angus MacColl, Unjust Incarceration £1,000
2 Callum Beaumont, Nameless, Cherede Darievea, £500
3 Alan Bevan, Nameless, Cherede Darievea,£300
4 Bruce Gandy, Sound of the Waves, £200
5 Stuart Liddell, Lament for the Harp Tree, £150
Judges: A MacDonald, I MacFadyen, C MacLellan
MacGregor Memorial Piobaireachd
1 Cameron May, Lament for Patrick Og MacCrimmon, £110
2 Gregor MacDonald, £85
3 Alister Bevan, £60
4 Liam Nicholson, MacLeod’s Salute, £50
Judges for the final: A Maclean, R MacShannon, J Taylor, W Wotherspoon
Finalists in this competition held over two heats: Luke Kennedy, Cameron May, Liam Nicholson, Alister Bevan, Calum Bevan, Duncan Winten, Innes Munro, Gregor MacDonald.
Former Winners’ MSR
1 Connor Sinclair, £550
2 Alex Gandy, £400
3 Finlay Johnston, £250
4 Alasdair Henderson, £200
5 Ben Duncan, £150
Judges: J Banks, R Parkes, J Wilson
• Stay tuned to Piping Press for results from the Argyllshire Gathering Day 2 and for comment on the playing.
Rain and cold helped me decide to listen and see which Gold Medalists wanted to win the 2022 AG Senior Piob in the chilly setting of the Main Corran Hall. Five minutes seems forever to boil an egg but mere seconds to tame a bagpipe for a huge event. It was of interest to me to witness how the different players used this precious five minutes and also discover how well they knew and trusted their own instrument. The winner certainly knew that he needed to only adjust his two tenor drones before the two zeros began to flash on the judges bench. A constant, level great sound is required at any level of a solo piping event and the winner certainly achieved this. He also didn’t carefully pick his way through the Unjust and played the extremely difficult extra line without any nervous grey areas evident. Drive and musicality still all under firm control during the crunluath a mach brought him safely over the finishing line.