The winner of the 58th Silver Chanter was Sandy Cameron, Roy Bridge. His tune was the Lament for Macleod of Colbeck. It was Sandy’s first win of the prestigious award.
The recital / competition was held last night before a large audience at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Gaelic College, Sleat, isle of Skye. The sponsors were Torabhaig Malt Whisky, the Piobaireachd Society and the College.
By Peter McCalister
Sandy qualified for the ‘Chanter’ by winning the 2024 Dunvegan Medal. Other pipers and their 2024 qualifying event: Derek Midgley (Skye Clasp), Cameron Drummond (Oban Gold Medal), Angus MacPhee (Dunvegan Medal 2nd place), Nick Hudson (Inverness Clasp), and Alasdair Henderson ( Oban Snr. Piob.).
The other tunes played were Earl of Ross’s March (Angus), Battle of Waternish (Derek), Lament for Patrick Og MacCrimmon (Nick) I Gave a Kiss to the King’s Hand (Alasdair) and MacLeod of MacLeod’s Lament (Cameron).
The adjudicator was Piobaireachd Society Music Committee member Dr Bill Wotherspoon, and Fear an Tigh Dr J Decker Forrest.
Their was an appreciative audience in Sleat. They braved storms which battered the isle of Skye before and after the contest. At one point there was a power cut at Sabhal Mòr but this did not affect the competition. There were a lot of trees down locally.
The judge told me it was a very tight contest, each player having produced a high class performance. The result was thus his subjective opinion (his own words). As readers will know, Sandy had already won the Col Jock Clasp at Skye the previous evening and as such had qualified for the 2026 Silver Chanter.
The Silver Chanter was recorded by the BBC and will be broadcast later on their piping programmes and on the Piobaireachd Society website.
- Check out the Skye Gathering results for a full update of all the winners over both days of the competition.
