Successful Piping Competition Debut for James
James Duncan Mackenzie with Susan Millar and Fiona MacLeod, daughters of P/M Donald MacLeod.
One of the most prestigious piping competitions in the world returned to Stornoway in all its former glory. Top honours in the Pipe Major Donald MacLeod MBE Memorial Competition, held in the Caladh Inn on Friday, were taken by Dollar piping instructor Callum Beaumont, who was first overall and won the Ceol Mòr (piobareachd) and MSR (March, Strathspey and Reel).
James Duncan Mackenzie, from Back, formerly of folk band Breabach fame and now a piping instructor in Lewis and Harris schools, was second overall and second in both these categories, and had already made history by being the first Lewis piper to qualify for the invitational competition since its inception in 1994.
Overall winner Callum Beaumont was a previous winner, having taken the title in 2013, while it was a very successful debut for James Duncan Mackenzie. Invited to take part in the Donald MacLeod competition after winning the Duvegan Medal at the Skye Gathering in 2022, James’s performance of the Donald MacLeod piobareachd ‘Lament for the Iolaire’ was one of the most poignant moments of the day.
James Duncan Mackenzie said it had been ‘a great weekend’. He said: ‘It was an honour to be invited to such a prestigious solo piping competition and celebration of Donald MacLeod’s music. I grew up learning Donald’s music through the teaching of the late Pipe Major Iain Murdo Morrison and he was obviously a pupil of Donald MacLeod’s so it’s nice to carry on with that tradition.
‘I first attended the competition as an audience member when I was about eight years old and back then I was really inspired by the likes of Angus MacColl and Willie McCallum and it’s just a huge honour to be competing now at that level amongst these guys. They’ve been at the top level of solo piping for the best part of 25 years or more. I was just really delighted to even feature in the prize list.’
Now working towards the Gold Medal competitions at the likes of Oban and Inverness, James said competitive solo piping was ‘a different discipline’ to playing on the folk scene. ‘When I was younger I did a lot of solo piping competitions and then moved away from it. I’ve not been doing as much on the folk scene. It’s great to get back to the solo piping side of things.’
One enthusiast described the day as ‘just magic’, while another, who took a taxi from Inverness to Ullapool after missing their bus connection for the ferry, declared the extra cost was worth ‘every penny’.
