The Competition
The Balmoral Classic is the only solo bagpiping and Scottish snare drumming competition in the US exclusively for those age 21 and under. Pipers compete in two styles: Pìobaireachd, the classical music of Highland bagpiping, and MSR, the traditional bagpipe competition medley. Drummers compete in Hornpipe & Jig and MSR. The Overall is a combination of scores from Pìobaireachd and MSR for piping, and Hornpipe & Jig and MSR for drumming. Previous 1st place winners of the US Junior Solo Championships are not eligible to compete.
Stay tuned for announcements about the 20th Balmoral Classic as we plan for the events in November 2026.
The Concert
Plans for the 2026 Balmoral Classic, our 20th anniversary are in the works. In 2025 our concert was held on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 @ 7:30pm: Carnegie Mellon University Pipes and Drums, led by Pipe Major Andrew Carlisle and Drum Sergeant Miles Bennington, will present an evening of Scottish and Irish music on the bagpipes and drums, with special guests Bealtaine, and Scottish and Irish dancers. The Pipes and Drums band, which was founded in 1939, is fresh off wins from the Chicago Highland Games and the American Pipe Band Championships in Norfolk, Virginia, and is just returning from the European and World Pipe Band Championships. Tickets at showclix.com or at the door. Location: Carnegie Library Lecture Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA (behind the Carnegie Library).
The Piobaireachd Workshop
Stay tuned for plans for the 2026 Classic - For the 2025 Classic pipers, we held a free Piobaireachd workshop with Bruce Gandy—open to all 2025 applicants and former Classic competitors—on Sunday morning, November 16. Piping judge Bruce Gandy, of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, a former World Pipe Band Champion with the 78th Fraser Highlanders, Bruce has also won some of the most respected solo prizes in piping: the Silver Star for Former Winners MSR at Inverness, the Senior Piobaireachd at Oban, the Bratach Gorm in London (twice), and most recently the Masters MSR in Glasgow. With decades of experience as a competitor, adjudicator, composer, and teacher, Bruce continues to inspire pipers at every level to learn deeply, play boldly, and achieve their own musical breakthroughs.
