By Margaret Dunn

Yesterday, CLASP (Competition League for Amateur Solo Pipers) held its annual end-of-season competition. The competition marked the end of our 2019/2020 CLASP season and, as with our previous competition on March 23, this one was held digitally due to Covid-19 situation.

It was a great success and the league table will be updated in the next few days. Crit sheets will be emailed out to all competitors in the coming days. The overall winners for each grade will receive a keepsake medal that will be posted once it is possible to do so. The prizewinners are listed below.

The judges – Finlay MacDonald, Alastair Dunn, Connor Sinclair, Dan Nevans, Wilson Brown, John Mulhearn and Andrew Bova – heard 43 ceòl mòr performances and 48 ceòl beag peformances across the three grades. The competitors came from all around the globe including Scotland, England, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, America, Canada, Hungary, Netherlands and Spain.

I’d like to thank all to the CLASP competitors who have embraced the remote competition setting in these difficult times. Thanks, too, to the judges and the stewards – Wilson Brown, Helen Urquhart, Dan Nevans and Katrina and Alister Sinclair.

CLASP logo

Our next competition is on August 8. This one replaces the annual World Solo Amateur Piping Competition at the Piping Live! festival. This is usually a time when the largest volume of amateur solo pipers were located together in the same city at one time, but unfortunately, due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, we will run this one as a remote event. The confirmed judges include Willie McCallum, Finlay Johnston and Finlay MacDonald. 

Robert Cunningham, overall winner in Grade 3.

If you are an adult (aged 18+) amateur solo piper (graded 3, 2 or 1 or you may not be graded and require a grading) please visit the CLASP website for more information or to become a member.

Results:
Grade 1
Piobaireachd – 1. Stuart Robinson; 2. David MacKenzie; 3. Colin Innes; 4. Stephen Ross; 5. Gill Cairns; 6. Kyle Banta.
Judge: Connor Sinclair.

2/4 March – 1. Justin Howland; 2. Kyle Banta; 3. Niklas MacPhee; 4. Stuart Robinson; 5. David MacKenzie; 6. Jason Harley.
Judge: Alastair Dunn.

Strathspey & Reel – 1. Kyle Banta; 2. Justin Howland; 3. Gordon Hislop; 4. Stuart Robinson; 5. Jason Harley; 6. David MacKenzie.
Judge: Alastair Dunn.

Jig – 1. Stuart Robinson; 2. Colin Innes; 3. Justin Howland; 4. Niklas McPhee; 5. Kyle Banta; 6. William Wardrope.
Judge: Andrew Bova.

Grade 2
Piobaireachd – 1. Evan Wraga; 2. Giovanni Giulianini; 3. Ben Hall; 4. William Wardrope; 5. Duncan Lamont; 6. Christian Beutler.
Judge: John Mulhearn.

2/4 March – 1. Giovanni Giulianini; 2. Esther Scheren; 3. Evan Roll; 4. Ben Hall; 5. Christian Beutler; 6. Evan Wraga.
Judge: Andrew Bova.

Strathspey & Reel – 1. Ben Hall; 2. Evan Roll; 3. Giovanni Giulianini; 4. Esther Scheren; 5. Evan Wraga; 6. David Livingstone.
Judge: Andrew Bova.

Jig – 1. Liza MacFarquhar; 2. Baliant Kiss; 3. Evan Roll; 4. Giovanni Giulianini; 5. Esther Scheren; 6. Douglas Maxwell.
Judge: Finlay MacDonald.

Grade 3
Piobaireachd (Ground Only) – 1. John Hunt; 2. Hector Thomson; 3. Mark MacRae; 4. Anthony Kelly; 5. Alasdair Beaton; 6. Joe Moore.
Judge: Wilson Brown

Piobaireachd – 1. Svenn Vollberg; 2. Hector Thomson; 3. John Hunt; 4. Robert Cunningham; 5. Philip Duthie; 6. Joe Moore.
Judge: Wilson Brown

2/4 March – 1. Robert Cunningham; 2. Philip Duthie; 3. Cameron O’Neil; 4. Neil Scotland; 5. Roddy Garden; 6. Hector Thomson.
Judge: Dan Nevans.

Strathspey & Reel – 1. Neil Scotland; 2. Cameron O’Neil; 3. James Acheson; 4. Hector Thomson; 5. Joe Moore; 6. Robert Cunningham.
Judge: Dan Nevans.

Jig – 1. Alasdair Beaton; 2. Leslie Barrett; 3. Sven Vollberg; 4. Philip Duthie; 5. Cameron O’Neil; 6. Mark MacRae.
Judge: Finlay MacDonald.

Overall winners – Stuart Robinson (Grade 1), Giovanni Giulianini Grade 2) and Robert Cunningham (Grade 3).

Douglas Armstrong competing on Saturday.