Piper Connor in the running at top comp
A Crieff piper is in the running to be named one of the world’s best at Blair Castle next month.
Connor Sinclair is among 10 solo pipers to be invited to compete in this year’s Glenfiddich Piping Championship.
The prestigious 48th annual event will welcome live audiences to the Highland Perthshire venue’s Victorian ballroom on Saturday, October 30.
It is also being streamed on the internet, allowing piping fans at home and around the world to enjoy the performances.
Starting to train his talent early, Connor was accepted for accelerated weekly tuition at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow.
Mum and dad Katrina and Alister drove him to the music hub from Crieff once a week for 10 years.
As a 16 year- old Connor – whose grandfather, Hugh, who was a drummer with Comrie Pipe Band – was the winner of the final round of the 2012 Pipe Idol competition.
He obtained his Bachelor of Music
( Piping) degree from the Royal
Conservatoire of Scotland’s Traditional Music programme before then joining the teaching staff of the National Piping Centre.
A member of popular folk band Gnoss, Connor finished second overall during his first appearance at the Blair Atholl contest in 2019 at the age of 23.
In the same year he won the Highland Society of London Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting.
Two years on, Connor will be playing solo against the likes of defending champion Stuart Liddell, Dollar’s Callum Beaumont, British Columbia piper Jack Lee, five- time champion Roderick Macleod MBE, William McCallum of Bearsden, 2019 title holder Finlay Johnston, The Silver Chanter 2021 winner Angus MacColl, Edinburgh’s Iain Speirs and Glasgow- based Canadian piper Glenn Brown.
Musicians will play in both the Piobaireachd and March, and Strathspey and Reel disciplines, with prizes awarded for each discipline, as well as an overall championship winner.
The championship will get under way at 10am on October 30 and, with limited availability on the door at Blair Castle, would-be spectators are encouraged to buy a ticket in advance for the in-person show, priced at £15 per person or £12 for a concession.
The competition will be followed by the celebratory Pipers’ Ceilidh at the Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry.
A limited number of tickets are available for the ceilidh, priced at £60 per person.
The online show is priced at £15 and will be available to view for one week after it is first streamed.
Everyone who books a ticket in advance for the competition, both in-person or online, will be entered into a special prize draw to win a set of bagpipes, Piping Live! 2022 festival passes and a host of other items.
The Glenfiddich Piping Championship was established to inspire the world’s finest exponents of Ceòl Mòr or Piobaireachd (the great music) and Ceòl Beag or light music (the little music).
Tickets are available via the competition’s website.