Friday, Nov. 1, 7:30pm – Join us in the Carnegie Room at the Courtyard Marriott for our 2024 Balmoral Classic Opening Reception, Co-Sponsored by the Pittsburgh Piping Society. The event includes a recital featuring our piping competition judges: Dr. Angus MacDonald, Matt MacIsaac and Paula Glendinning. Hors d’oeuvres will be served and a cash bar will be available for adults. No cover required, but donations are welcomed.
Saturday, Nov. 2, 9:00am to 3:00pm – The Balmoral Classic: US Junior Solo Bagpiping & Drumming Championships, to be held at CRC Understory, Cathedral of Learning, 4200 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Pipers will compete in MSR and Pìobaireachd. The competition’s Overall prize is decided by a combination of scores from Pìobaireachd and MSR. The winner will receive a set of MacRae bagpipes donated by McCallum Bagpipes. Drumming trophies will be awarded for MSR, Hornpipe/Jig, and Overall. Prizes for the Overall Winner of the Drumming contest and all other prizes to be announced. Drumming judges, Jon Quigg and Derek Cooper, join piping judges MacDonald, MacIsaac, and Glendenning. This event is free to the public.
Saturday, Nov. 2, 8:00pm – Following the competition, Balmoral presents Beòlach in a live concert of Celtic music at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Beòlach has delighted audiences throughout the world with their original compositions and unique arrangements of Scottish, Irish, and Cape Breton tunes. Their most recent album, All Hands (2020), won two 2021 Canadian Folk Music Awards—Instrumental Group of the Year and Traditional Album of the Year—and received nominations for four East Coast Music Awards and a Juno Award. Competition judge, Matt MacIsaac, will be featured on pipes, whistles, and guitar. Tickets may be purchased at Showclix.com.
Sunday, Nov. 3, 10:00am-12:00pm – Piping and Scottish snare workshops, open to all 2024 applicants and former Classic competitors, in the Oakland Room of the Courtyard by Marriott Pittsburgh University Center. Instructor for the piping workshop (piobaireachd), Dr. Angus MacDonald of Glenuig, Scotland, has won nearly all of the top solo prizes in piping, including the Clasp at Inverness, the Highland Society of London’s Gold Medals, and the Silver Chanter. Jon Quigg (drumming) served as Drum Sergeant of the City of Washington Pipe Band helping them garner numerous contest wins, culminating in their winning performance at the 1999 World Pipe Band Championships. Call (412) 323-2707 to inquire.
Balmoral director, George Balderose said: “The Balmoral Classic attracts some of the best pipers in North America, ages 21 and younger. And the four musicians in his year’s concert band, Beòlach, are outstanding representatives of Nova Scotia and the music of Cape Breton.”
PIPERS APPLY BY OCTOBER 1 at:
DRUMMERS APPLY BY OCTOBER 1 at:
