Kiwi piper hits the international stage
A Palmerston North piper is set to go up against some of the world’s best after being named in the top 10.
Stuart Easton, 37, recently won the Highland Society of London gold medal for solo piping at the Argyllshire gathering in Oban, Scotland.
He beat 25 other world-class pipers to win the medal for piobaireachd, the classical music of the highland pipes.
This win means he will compete at the famous Glenfiddich Piping Championship against the other nine in the top 10.
‘‘It’s such an honour. Half the field were legends before I started piping, so to be amongst it is very special,’’ he said.
Easton began piping at the age of 13 and has won prizes throughout New Zealand, Australia, France and Scotland in the past 15 years.
He was taught initially by his dad, who will go to Scotland with him for the competition, alongside Easton’s wife.
Easton said to compete in the gold medal category at the Argyllshire gathering he had to first win the silver medal, which took eight years.
Once he qualified for the gold category, Easton, alongside his wife Shelley Easton, decided it was time to knuckle down and give his dream of winning gold a good go.
He won the gold medal on his first attempt, making him only the third piper to do so.
The win also makes him the seventh New Zealander to win one of the two highly prized Scottish gold medals, with the other held at Inverness.
Easton said heading to the Glenfiddich Piping Championship was an amazing achievement.
He leaves for Scotland today, with the championship being held on Saturday at Blair Castle, Perthshire.