The 2021 Nicol-Brown Amateur Invitational Contest will be held online in October with the prizes being announced on the ninth.
This popular contest sees 10 amateur pipers, each nominated by their various North American home associations, receive an invite to compete for the Nicol-Brown Chalice. The invited is based track records from the previous year’s Nicol-Brown and George Sherriff Invitational contests; the results of major events held in person at the beginning of this year such as Winter Storm and the Metro Cup; and results of video contests such as the US Piping Foundation Championships and events sponsored by the EUSPBA and other associations. Stuart Marshall of Stokesdale, North Carolina, was last year’s overall winner, which had to be held online due to the ongoing pandemic.
The judges for this year are Roddy MacLeod, MBE and Nick Hudson for the Ceòl Mòr and Bob Worrall and Jenny Hazzard for the MSR and 6/8 events. All four will also participate in a recital and masterclass.
The competition was started in 1982 in memory of the ‘Bobs of Balmoral’ – Robert B. Nicol and Robert U. Brown
Jeannie Campbell’s series on the history of the Argyllshire Gathering is proving popular with many readers – including the organisers of the Gathering itself. We understand consideration is being given to having the lengthy series published on the Gathering’s website.
In addition, Jeannie’s series may be included in a display in the Gathering’s Heritage Tent at the games this year – if it goes ahead as an in-person event, of course.
Jeannie’s unedited series contains much more information than is being published on Bagpipe.News. Currently, the series has reached 1930.