Balmoral
School of Piping & Drumming News
For more
information, contact George Balderose, Executive
Director
Stay tuned for more updates on this page - there is much more to say!
Congratulations to all the Balmoral Classic winners and thanks to all the contestants!
For more details go to the Balmoral Classic
website.
Balmoral Classic 2012 piping and drumming overall winners were Kirk Brunson and Amber Stone.
Balmoral Classic 2011 piping and drumming overall winners were Alex Schiele and Petey Lowrie.
November
2010 Balmoral Classic news:
2010 US Junior Solo
Bagpiping Championship overall and pìobaireachd
winner Joe Stewart of Seattle, Washington with his
Ambassador Dan Rooney Trophy, Clan Donald Trophy,
and hand-crafted Inveran
bagpipes.
Photo: Ann
Stewart
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2010 US Junior Solo Drumming
Championship overall, MSR, and H&J winner
Quinn McCormack of Pembroke, Massachusetts
with his David L. Peet Memorial Trophy
and Premier
HTS 800 snare
drum. Photo:
Weatherly Schiele
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2010 US Junior Solo
Bagpiping Championship MSR winner Daniel
Pisowloski of Canterbury, Connecticut with his
EW Littlefield Trophy and McCallum
bagpipes.
Photo:
Weatherly Schiele
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Joseph Stewart
Wins the 2010 US Junior Solo Bagpiping Championship
Quinn McCormack Wins the 2010 US Junior Solo
Drumming Championship
Sixteen-year-old Joseph Stewart of Seattle,
Washington wins the 2010 Balmoral Classic US Junior
Solo Bagpiping Championship and fourteen-year old
Quinn McCormack of Pembroke, Massachusetts wins the
2010 Balmoral Classic US Junior Solo Drumming
Championship.
The national competitions, which were open for
public attendance, took place Saturday, November
13, 2010 at Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
They are the only solo bagpiping and bagpipe band
drumming competitions in the US exclusively for
those under 18 years of age. Entrants were required
to apply and meet strict standards based upon
amateur upper grade competitive successes.
The competitions are part of the Balmoral Classic,
a US celebration of Highland bagpiping and drumming
held annually in Pittsburgh. The fifth Balmoral
Classic is scheduled for November 11 and 12, 2011.
Bagpiping entrants competed in two styles:
Pìobaireachd, the classical music of Highland
bagpiping, and MSR (march, strathspey, and reel),
the traditional bagpipe competition medley.
Drumming entrants competed in two styles: Hornpipe
& Jig and MSR. The Overall is a combination of
scores from Pìobaireachd and MSR for piping, and
Hornpipe & Jig and MSR for drumming.
The competitors were awarded points for tempo,
tone, rhythm, execution and expression by piping
and drumming adjudicators, senior champions
themselves. The piping judges were Willie McCallum
of Scotland, Donald McBride of the Republic of
Ireland, and Andrew Carlisle of Northern Ireland.
The snare drumming judge was Jim Sim of Peotone,
Illinois.
Winners were announced at Balmoral Classic’s
evening concert featuring the performance ensemble
Battlefield Band of Scotland in a farewell concert
by the band's remaining founder Alan Reid.
Trophies, medals, prizes and scholarships were
presented to the first- through fifth-place
winners. As Overall winners, McCormack performed
his Hornpipe & Jig set and Stewart performed
his MSR set in front of the concert audience.
Battlefield Band also invited McCormack on stage to
accompany them to a set of brisk reels. Stewart
received the Ambassador Dan Rooney Trophy and a
two-week full scholarship to Balmoral School of
Piping & Drumming. McCormack was awarded the
David L. Peet Memorial Trophy, a Premier HTS 800
snare drum donated by Henderson Imports of Traverse
City, Michigan, and a two-week full scholarship to
Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming.
Stewart was also the first-place winner for
Pìobaireachd and received the Clan Donald Trophy
and a set of hand-crafted Inveran bagpipes from
Scotland. Seventeen year-old Daniel Pisowloski of
Canterbury, Connecticut, was the first-place winner
for MSR in piping for which he received the E.W.
Littlefield, Jr. Trophy and a set of McCallum
bagpipes from Scotland.
Support for the Balmoral Classic of 2010 was made
possible, in part, by grants from Clan Donald
Educational and Charitable Trust, The Heinz
Endowments, RK Mellon Family Foundation, and the
Sage Foundation. Additional support was provided by
84 Lumber, Archive Movie Network, Birdsfoot Golf
Club, Bruegger’s, Caliban Book Shop, Calliope: The
Pittsburgh Folk Music Society, Carnegie Museums of
Pittsburgh, Classic Equestrian Riding School,
Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, Henderson’s Pipe
& Drum Supplies, Inveran Bagpipe Makers,
Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh, Irish Design
Center, Ligonier Highland Games, MacLellan
Bagpipes, McCallum Bagpipes, Max’s Allegheny
Tavern, Meade Custom Drumming Supplies, Mullaney’s
Harp & Fiddle Irish Pub, Peppi’s, Piper’s Pub,
Pipers Choice, Pipers Cove, Pittsburgh Firefighters
Memorial Pipe Band, Pittsburgh Flight Training
Center, Pittsburgh Police Emerald Society Pipes
& Drums, Pittsburgh Snax & Nut Company,
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Trophy
Company, St. Andrew’s Society of Pittsburgh, St.
Brendan’s Crossing, Sandy St. James, Scott’s
Highland Services, Soergel Orchards, The Claddagh
Irish Pub, The Parador, The Pittsburgh Cultural
Trust, The Priory, Radelet McCarthy Polletta
Architects, The Saturday Light Brigade, and Thistle
& Pine.
Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming is a
501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization
founded and maintained in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
since 1978. The school conducts one and two
week-long sessions in bagpipe music at college
campuses throughout the US each summer, bringing
together world champion Highland piping and
drumming instructors for students beginning through
advanced. It is the Balmoral School’s mission “to
raise the standard and promote the appreciation of
bagpipe music in the USA by providing world class
instruction, cultivating excellence in youth,
presenting innovative musical events, and fostering
tradition.”
2010 US Junior
Solo Bagpiping Championship Winners
Overall
1. Joseph Stewart, Seattle, Washington
2. Alexander Schiele, Snohomish, Washington
3. Marshall German, Corona, California
4. Daniel Pisowloski, Canterbury, Connecticut
5. Ryan Praskovich, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pìobaireachd
1. Joseph Stewart, Seattle, Washington
2. Marshall German, Corona, California
3. Alexander Schiele, Snohomish, Washington
4. Aaron Stone, Auburn, Washington
5. Joseph Biggs, Princeton, Illinois
MSR
1. Daniel Pisowloski, Canterbury, Connecticut
2. Alexander Schiele, Snohomish, Washington
3. Ryan Praskovich, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
4. Joseph Stewart, Seattle, Washington
5. Marshall German, Corona, California
2010 US Junior
Solo Drumming Championship Winners
Overall
1. Quinn McCormack, Pembroke, Massachusetts
2. Amber Stone, Auburn, Washington
3. Petey Lowrie, Brunswick, Ohio
4. Wesley Blevins, Louisville, Kentucky
5. Drew Donnelly, Strongsville, Ohio
Hornpipe & Jig
1. Quinn McCormack, Pembroke, Massachusetts
2. Amber Stone, Auburn, Washington
3. Petey Lowrie, Brunswick, Ohio
4. Drew Donnelly, Strongsville, Ohio
5. Wesley Blevins, Louisville, Kentucky
MSR
1. Quinn McCormack, Pembroke, Massachusetts
2. Amber Stone, Auburn, Washington
3. Petey Lowrie, Brunswick, Ohio
4. Wesley Blevins, Louisville, Kentucky
5. Drew Donnelly, Strongsville, Ohio
2010 US Junior
Solo Bagpiping Championship
Entrants
1. Joseph Biggs, Princeton, Ilinois
2. Kirk Brunson, Derry, New Hampshire
3. Matthew Davis, Barto, Pennsylvania
4. Marshall German, Corona, California
5. John-Patrick Hanna, Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
6. Daniel Pisowloski, Canterbury, Connecticut
7. Ryan Praskovich, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
8. Alexander Schiele, Snohomish, Washington
9. Joseph Stewart, Seattle, Washington
10. Aaron Stone, Auburn, Washington
11. Tyler Tagliaferro, Medina, Ohio
12. Nicholas Theriault, Danville, California
13. Billy Woods, Lyons, Colorado
2010 US Junior
Solo Drumming Championship
Entrants
1. Wesley Blevins, Louisville, Kentucky
2. Drew Donnelly, Strongsville, Ohio
3. Andrew Koupal, San Ramon, California
4. Petey Lowrie, Brunswick, Ohio
5. Quinn McCormack, Pembroke, Massachusetts
6. Amber Stone, Auburn,
Washington:
November
2009:
Anthony Masterson
receives his EW Littlefield Trophy for Overal
piping
from Balmoral School executive director George
Balderose. Photo: Evan
Kenepp
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Petey Lowrie with his David
L. Peet Memorial Trophy for Overall drumming,
plus first-place drumming trophies for Hornpipe
& Jig and MSR. Photo: Evan
Kenepp
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Marshall German with his
Clan Donald Trophy and Inveran
bagpipes prize
for first place in pìobaireachd piping.
Photo:
Evan Kenepp
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Anthony
Masterson Wins the 2009 US Junior Solo Bagpiping
Championship
Petey Lowrie Wins the 2009 US Junior Solo Snare
Drumming Championship
Sixteen-year-old Anthony Masterson of Houston,
Texas wins the third annual 2009 Balmoral Classic
US Junior Solo Bagpiping Championship, and fourteen
year-old Petey Lowrie of Brunswick, Ohio wins the
inaugural 2009 Balmoral Classic US Junior Solo
Snare Drumming Championship in all categories.
The national competition, which was open to the
public for viewing, took place Saturday, November
7, 2009 at Hillman Center for Performing Arts in
Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania, a private high school in
the borough of Fox Chapel, just north of
Pittsburgh. It is the only US bagpiping and
drumming competition for competitors solely 18
years of age and under. An invitational tournament,
entrants are required to meet strict standards
based upon amateur upper grade competitive
successes.
The competitions are part of The Balmoral Classic,
a US celebration of Highland bagpiping and drumming
which is held annually in Pittsburgh. The next
Balmoral Classic will be held at Hillman Center on
November 12 and 13, 2010.
Bagpiping entrants competed in two styles:
Pìobaireachd, the classical music of Highland
bagpiping, and MSR (marches, strathspeys, and
reels), the traditional music of Scotland. Drumming
entrants competed in two styles: Hornpipe & Jig
and MSR. The Overall is a combination of scores
from Pìobaireachd and MSR for piping and Hornpipe
& Jig and MSR for drumming.
The competitors were awarded points for tempo,
tone, rhythm, execution and expression by piping
and drumming adjudicators, senior champions
themselves. The piping judges were Brian Donaldson
of Cupar, Fife, Scotland; Alasdair Gillies of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and James MacColl of
Florence, Oregon. The drumming judge was Gordon
Bell of Neptune, New Jersey.
Winners were announced at the Balmoral Classic’s
evening concert featuring the five-time juvenile
world champion St. Thomas’ Episcopal School Pipe
Band of Houston, Texas. Trophies, medals, prizes
and scholarships were presented to the first to
fifth place winners. As Overall winners, Lowrie
performed his Hornpipe & Jig set and Masterson
performed his MSR set in front of the concert
audience.
Masterson received the EW Littlefield, Jr. Trophy
and a set of McCallum bagpipes made in Scotland.
Lowrie was awarded the David L. Peet Memorial
Trophy and his choice of a professional snare drum
made by Premier, Pearl, or Andante donated by
Henderson Imports of Michigan. Both also won
two-week full scholarships to Balmoral School of
Piping & Drumming. The late Dave Peet
served as executive
director of the Ligonier Highland Games for over
40 years. The Balmoral Classic of 2009 was
dedicated in Peet’s honor.
Masterson was also the first-place winner for MSR.
Sixteen year-old Marshall German of Corona,
California, was the first-place winner for
pìobaireachd for which he received the Clan Donald
Trophy and a set of Inveran hand-crafted bagpipes
from Scotland. As second Overall, German received a
one-week tuition scholarship to Balmoral School of
Piping & Drumming.
Support for The Balmoral Classic of 2009 was made
possible, in part, from a grant by The Heinz
Endowments. Additional support was provided by Clan
Donald Educational and Charitable Trust,
Henderson’s Pipe & Drum Supplies, Hillman
Center for Performing Arts, House of Bagpipes,
Inveran Bagpipe Makers, MacLellan Bagpipes,
McCallum Bagpipes, Meade Custom Drumming Supplies,
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Piper’s Pub,
Pipers Choice, Pittsburgh Firefighters Memorial
Pipe Band, Pittsburgh Snax & Nuts Company, St.
Andrew’s Society of Pittsburgh, Sandy St. James,
Saturday Light Brigade, Sodexo, The Priory, and
Walkers Shortbread.
Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming is a
501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded and
maintained in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Celebrating
its 31st anniversary in 2009, the school conducts
one and two week-long sessions in bagpipe music at
college campuses throughout the US each summer,
bringing together world-champion Highland piping
and drumming instructors for students beginning
through advanced. It is the Balmoral School’s
mission “to raise the standard and promote the
appreciation of bagpipe music in the USA by
providing world class instruction, cultivating
excellence in youth, presenting innovative musical
events, and fostering tradition.”
2009 US Junior
Solo Bagpiping Championship Winners
Overall
1. Anthony Masterson, Houston, Texas
2. Marshall German, Corona, California
3. Kyle Rothschild-Mancinelli, Woodside, California
4. Matthew Davis, Barto, Pennsylvania
5. Daniel Pisowloski, Canterbury, Connecticut
Pìobaireachd
1. Marshall German, Corona, California
2. Anthony Masterson, Houston, Texas
3. Matthew Davis, Barto, Pennsylvania
4. Geordie Hall, Duncannon, Pennsylvania
5. Alexander Schiele, Snohomish, Washington
MSR
1. Anthony Masterson, Houston, Texas
2. Kyle Rothschild-Mancinelli, Woodside, California
3. Daniel Pisowlski, Canterbury, Connecticut
4. Marshall German, Corona, California
5. Andrew Coulter, Houston, Texas
2009 US Junior
Solo Snare Drumming Championship Winners
Overall
1. Petey Lowrie, Brunswick, Ohio
2. Nader Girgawy, Bellaire, Texas
3. Kevin Yang, Houston, Texas
4. Drew Donnelly, Strongsville, Ohio
5. Quinn McCormack, Pembroke, Massachusetts
Hornpipe & Jig
1. Petey Lowrie, Brunswick, Ohio
2. Nader Girgawy, Bellaire, Texas
3. Kevin Yang, Houston, Texas
4. Quinn McCormack, Pembroke, Massachusetts
5. Drew Donnelly, Strongsville, Ohio
MSR
1. Petey Lowrie, Brunswick, Ohio
2. Nader Girgawy, Bellaire, Texas
3. Kevin Yang, Houston, Texas
4. Drew Donnelly, Strongsville, Ohio
5. Quinn McCormack, Pembroke, Massachusetts
See text files of competition
rules, prize
listing, judge
bios,
and this news
release.
October 2009:
St. Thomas’ Episcopal
School Pipe Band of Houston, Texas.
Photo: Tony
Fisher
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image for print
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jpg)
St. Thomas’ Episcopal School
Pipe Band of Houston, Texas.
Photo: Tony Fisher
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image for print
(300 ppi, 3444 x 2567, cmyk, 15.3 Mb,
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Five-time world champion pipe
band debuts Pittsburgh concert Nov. 7
The five-time juvenile world champion St. Thomas’ Episcopal School Pipe
Band of Houston, Texas will perform
for the first time in Pittsburgh on Saturday,
November 7, 2009. Their 8pm concert caps the
festivities for The Balmoral Classic, the US’s
only national bagpiping celebration.
St. Thomas’ features nearly 40 pipers, drummers,
dancers, guitarists, keyboardists, and fiddlers
performing the traditional and contemporary music
and dance of Scotland and Ireland. Two
award-winning albums by the band, Impressions
(2004) and Dedication (2000), are based upon their
concerts. Both CDs were voted by the readers of
Piper & Drummer magazine as “Pipe Band Album of
the Year.”
Since the founding of its pipe band in the 1960s,
St. Thomas’ won the juvenile world champion title
in 2006, 2004, 1998, 1995, and 1985. An annual
competition since 1930, the World Pipe Band
Championships are held in Glasgow, Scotland with
over 200 pipe bands and 8,000 pipers and drummers
competing each August. The juvenile category is
reserved for pipe bands whose members are under 18
years of age.
St. Thomas’ pipe band is directed by Lyric Todkill,
a 2003 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s
bachelor of arts bagpipe program. Lyric was the
first CMU graduate of Pipe Major Alasdair Gillies,
head of the university’s piping program and record
holder of the most world bagpiping championships in
history. Lyric joined St. Thomas’ faculty in 2005
and led its pipe band to its 2006 junior world
championship. Initially a student of Balmoral
School of Piping & Drumming, today Lyric is a
member of its summer faculty and board of
directors.
Members of the pipe band will also be interviewed
and perform on Saturday Light Brigade, an
award-winning family radio show, the morning of the
concert from 10:35 to 10:55 AM. Saturday Light
Brigade is broadcast live every Saturday from 6 AM
to noon from their studio at the Children’s Museum
of Pittsburgh. Their shows may be heard online at
slbradio.org and on six radio stations in western
Pennsylvania, including WRCT 88.3 FM in Pittsburgh.
Held annually in Pittsburgh, in addition to a
concert featuring award-winning performers on the
bagpipe, The Balmoral Classic also features
invitational national championships in bagpiping
and snare drumming for competitors age 18 years and
younger. It is the only national Scottish piping
and drumming competition for youth in the US.
All Balmoral Classic events will held at Hillman
Center for Performing Arts on the Fox Chapel senior
school campus of Shady Side Academy. The Balmoral
Classic begins with a welcoming reception on
Friday, November 6 from 7 to 9 PM. The piping and
drumming competitions are held on Saturday,
November 7 from 9 AM to 5 PM and are free for
public viewing. St. Thomas’ concert begins at 8 PM.
Parking is free.
Concert and reception tickets are available from
Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming at
412-323-2707. The reserved seating concert tickets
may also be purchased online from
ProArtsTickets.org.
The Balmoral Classic of 2009 is made possible, in
part, with support from Balmoral School of Piping
& Drumming, Clan Donald Educational and
Charitable Trust, Inveran Bagpipe Makers, The Heinz
Endowments, Hillman Center for the Arts and Shady
Side Academy, McCallum Bapgipes, Pennsylvania
Council on the Arts, Walkers Shortbread, and 84
Lumber.
Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming, the
organizer of The Balmoral Classic, is a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization. Founded in 1978, each
summer Balmoral School holds classes on Scottish
piping and drumming on college campuses throughout
the US.
More information about The Balmoral Classic and St.
Thomas’ Episcopal School Pipe Band is available at
BalmoralClassic.org and stespb.org.
Balmoral School
graduate news
Jori
Chisholm places first in professional piobaireachd
and MSR solo piping competitions at 2009 Las Vegas Celtic Gathering and
Highland Games
Kyle
Rothschild places
first in Grade 1 MSR and hornpipe/jig solo piping
competitions at 2009 Sacramento Valley Scottish Games
and Gathering
Nicholas Theriault places first in Grade 2 MSR solo
piping and hornpipe/jig solo side drumming at 2009
WUSPBA, Northern Branch Solo
Competitions and first in Grade 2 MSR and
piobaireachd at 2009 Mt. Tamalpais Solo Piping and
Drumming Competition
Images for print
300ppi cmyk
Balmoral
School logo
Balmoral
Classic logo
Other piping and drumming news
Carnegie Mellon is home to nation’s
only graduating bagpipe major
Thursday, May 7, 2009, Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
