The Minnesota Piobaireachd Society is co-sponsoring a piobaireachd competition named in honour of Skye Richendrfer, who passed away on November 20, 2022. Skye, well known in the piping community in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere, was a cofounder of the society, and a one time Pipe Major of the Macalester College Pipe Band in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
The event is named The Skye K. Richendrfer Memorial Challenge, and has been created by Andrew Lewis, Pipe Sergeant of the Macalester College Pipe Band and a founder of the society himself. The Memorial Challenge will be held in conjunction with another event – the Macalester College Winter Warm Up solo bagpipe competition, at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on February 4, 2023.
While the Warm Up competition, with guest adjudicator Andrew Douglas, is open to all amateur grades, the goal of the Minnesota Piobaireachd Society Skye Challenge is to encourage beginning piobaireachd players. The top five Grade 4 players who compete in the Warm Up are invited to compete, later in the day at the same venue, for the Skye K. Memorial Challenge Cup by each playing a full piobaireachd. The winning prizes are the bound Piobaireachd Society Collection of the 16 books, and the cup, which is a perpetual returning trophy.
Interested Grade 4 pipers are encouraged to enter the Warm Up Competition at Macalester via the Midwest Pipe Band Association website here.
