The GD Piping Competition - The Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust

The Gordon Duncan Memorial Solo Piping Competition

The first Gordon Duncan Memorial Solo Piping Competition was held, as part of the Celtic Connections Festival, on the 28^th January 2007 at the Holiday Inn-City West in Glasgow. Gordon had been one of the musicians who performed as part of Celtic Connections since the start. Formally and informally he would be playing.

In memory of Gordon the Gordon Duncan Solo Piping Competition was created. Competitors were invited from Scotland, from Ireland and from Brittany to compete for the Gordon Duncan Trophy which was kindly donated by McCallums Bagpipes (see picture).

Three pipers were invited from each domain and every piper competed in each domain, similar to the long running competitions at the Inter-Celtic Music Festival held in Lorient, Brittany. Gordon himself won the Lorient Inter-Celtic Festival Competition, at that time called The MacAllan Trophy. Gordon was an enthusiastic player of Breton and Irish music as well as traditional Scottish music and he would share this love of the music with those who knew him. He was possibly better known in Brittany than in Scotland!

A tale about Gordon

There was one occasion, after a late night/early morning session, Gordon decided to head home to Pitlochry for a day in the middle of the Celtic Connections Festival. He got on the train at Queen’s Street station, heading for Perth where he would change train to head North to Pitlochry. He got on the train, fell asleep and woke up in Dundee! He waited a while then got a train back from Dundee to Perth. He fell asleep again and ended back at Queen’s Street station. He never made it home but was well rested and went straight back into the music at the Festival!

Pictured: Gordon with his first MacAllan Trophy and the two MacAllan Trophies which he kept like “Wally Dugs” on his mantelpiece!

The Competitors

The details and results of each annual Gordon Duncan Memorial Solo Piping Competition are as follows:

2019

Bradley Parker from Portavogie, Co. Down, Northern Ireland won the 2019 Gordon Duncan Memorial Solo Piping Competition Trophy at The National Piping Centre on Sunday 18 August 2019.

2019	BRETON	IRISH	SCOTTISH
Performer	Herve Le Floc’h	Bradley Parker	Simon McKerrell
Winner of section	Herve Le Floc’h	Simon McKerrell	Bradley Parker
Judge of section	Patrick Molard	Alastair Dunn	Bob Worrall

The trophies were presented by Gordon Duncan Jr.

Bradley Parker, winner of the 2019 Trophy

The winners of the 2019 competition with Gordon Duncan Jr. — The winners with Gordon Duncan Jr.

Simon MacKerral, the Scottish piper who won the Irish section

Herve Le Floc’h, the Breton piper who won the Breton section

Bradley Parker, from Northern Ireland, who won the overall competition and won the Scottish section

2018

The 2018 competition was held at the National Piping Centre on Sunday 19^th August as part of Piping Live! Week. Performances are available to view in the video gallery.

2018	BRETON	IRISH	SCOTTISH
Performers	Enora Morice	Kris Coyle	Cameron MacDougall
Winners	Enora Morice	Cameron MacDougall	Cameron MacDougall

Judges	Gilles Houez & Maël Sicard-Cras	Margaret Dunn & Alastair Dunn	R S MacDonald & Ian G Duncan

The overall winner of the Gordon Duncan Trophy was Cameron MacDougall from Nigg. Professor Gary West presented the prizes. James Beaton was our fear-an-tighe for the competition.

2017

The 2017 competition was held at the National Piping Centre on Sunday 13^th August as part of Piping Live Week.

2017	BRETON	IRISH	SCOTTISH
Performers	Sylvain Hamon	Scott Wallace	Connor Sinclair
Winners	Sylvain Hamon	Connor Sinclair	Connor Sinclair

Judges	Mael Sicard	Margaret Dunn	Stuart Samson

The overall winner of the Gordon Duncan Trophy was Connor Sinclair. Gordy Duncan presented the prizes.

The 2017 winners — From left the photo shows Scott Wallace, Gordon Duncan Jr, winner Connor Sinclair, Ian Duncan and Sylvain Hamon.

2016

The 2016 competition was held at the National Piping Centre on Sunday 14^th August 2016 as part of Piping Live Week.

2016	BRETON	IRISH	SCOTTISH
Performers	Herve Le Floc’h	Robert Watt	David Shedden
Winners	Herve Le Floc’h	Robert Watt	Herve Le Floc’h

Judges	Sylvain Hamon	Margaret Dunn	Roddy MacDonald

The overall winner in 2016 was Herve Le Floc’h and the prizes were presented by Gordon Duncan Jr.

2016 winner, Herve Le Floc'h — 2016 winner, Herve Le Floc’h

Ali Hutton is seen joining in the celebrations with Herve.

David Shedden receiving his trophy and Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust t-shirts from Gordy Duncan Jr.

2015

The competition was reinstated in 2015 (following three years as Gordon Duncan Memorial Recital) in the National Piping Centre, this time as part of Piping Live Week, held in Glasgow in August each year for the week before the World Pipe band Championships. This competition was held on Sunday 16th August, the day after the World Pipe Band Championships.

	BRETON	IRISH	SCOTTISH
Performers	Jordane Guillaux	Andrew Carlisle	Cameron Drummond
Winners	Jordane Guillaux	Cameron Drummond	Andrew Carlisle

Judges	Patrick Molard	Margaret Dunn	Stuart Samson

The overall winner in 2015 was Andrew Carlisle. The prizes and trophy were sponsored by McCallum Bagpipes.

2014

Ali Hutton playing Gordon Duncan’s pipes.

The 2014 Gordon Duncan Memorial Recital was held on 26^th January 2014 at the National Piping Centre as part of Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow.

Ali Hutton	Representing Scotland
Sylvain Hamon	Representing Brittany
Emmett Conway	Representing Ireland

2014 winners — The trophies were presented by Gordon’s sister Frances and his brother, Ian.

2013

The 2013 Gordon Duncan Memorial Recital was held at the National Piping Centre, as part of the Celtic Connections Music Festival, on Sunday 3^rd of February 2013.

Gordon Walker	Representing Scotland
Herve Le Floc’h	Representing Brittany
Margaret Dunn	Representing Ireland

The 2013 winners — John Wilson introduced the players and is pictured here along with Herve, Margaret, Gordon and Chris Duncan who presented the trophies on behalf of the Trust at the 2013 recital.

2012

In 2012 the Solo Piping Competition became the Gordon Duncan Memorial Recital, and the 2012 event took place at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow. Similar to the competition which was held previously the players were invited to play and each had to play a Breton, an Irish and a Scottish selection. As a recital there were three invited players who each received a plaque with thanks.

(The Gordon Duncan Memorial Solo Competition Trophy was not presented.)

Angus McColl	Representing Scotland
Alexis Meunier	Representing Brittany
Robert Watt	Representing Ireland

2011

The 2011 competition was held at the National Piping Centre on the 16^th January as part of the Celtic Connections Music Festival in Glasgow.

The invited pipers this year representing their homeland were from:

Scotland: Alasdair Henderson, Allan MacDonald and Cameron Drummond
Brittany: Alexis Meunier, Sylvain Hamon, Xavier Boderiou
Ireland: Andrea Boyd, Robert Watt and Ryan Canning

The results were:

PLACE	BRETON SECTION	IRISH SECTION	SCOTTISH SECTION
1^st	Alexis Meunier	Robert Watt	Alasdair Henderson
2^nd	Sylvain Hamon	Andrea Boyd	Allan MacDonald
3^rd	Xavier Boderiou	Ryan Canning	Cameron Drummond

Judge 1	Patrick Molard	Lenny Browne	Jimmy Banks
Judge 2	Herve Le Floc’h	Willy Garret	Ian G Duncan

The overall winner for 2011 was Alexis Meunier from Brittany. The prizes were presented by Gordon Duncan Jr.

The 2011 winners — A line up of the Breton solo players, Alexis, Sylvain and Xavier with the Breton Adjudicators, Herve and Patrick, and Ian and Gordy.

2010

The fourth annual competition was this year held at the National Piping Centre, Glasgow, on the 31^st January 2010 as part of the Celtic Connections music festival. This event pays tribute to the late Gordon Duncan by holding events in Scottish, Breton and Irish genres.

The invited players representing their homeland were from:

Scotland: Willie McCallum, Stuart Liddell and Glen Brown
Brittany: Xavier Boderiou, Alexis Meunier and Sylvain Hamon
Ireland: Alen Tully, Andrew Carlisle and Jonathan Greenlees

The results were:

PLACE	BRETON SECTION	IRISH SECTION	SCOTTISH SECTION
1^st	Xavier Bouderiou	Stuart Liddell	Willie McCallum
2^nd	Alexis Meunier	Alen Tully	Stuart Liddell
3^rd	Willie McCallum	Willie McCallum	Sylvain Hamon

Judge 1	Erwin Ropars	David Caldwell	Ronnie McShannon
Judge 2	Herve Le Floc’h	L Brown	Ian G Duncan

The three winners of each section in 2010.

The overall winner this year was Willie McCallum from Bearden, Scotland.

Prizes were presented by Jock Duncan.

All the invitees of 2010 line up for a photo at the end.

2009

The third annual Gordon Duncan memorial Invitational Solo Piping Competition was held on the 25th January 2009 at the Station Hotel in Glasgow as part of the Celtic Connection Festival. Because the hotel was in liquidation at this time there was no heating at the competition, causing spectators and judges to wear overcoats throughout the near six hour event. One competitor quipped that the conditions were good practice for the Scottish Games circuit in the summer!

This year the invited players were from:

Scotland: Willie McCallum, Chris Armstrong and Gordon McCready
Brittany: Alexis Meunier, Sylvain Hamon and Xavier Boderiou
Ireland: Andrew Carlisle, Ashley McMichael and Jonathan Greenlees

The results were:

PLACE	BRETAN SECTION	IRISH SECTION	SCOTTISH SECTION
1^st	Alexis Meunier	Alexis Meunier	Alexis Meunier
2^nd	Sylvain Hamon	Sylvain Hamon	Willie McCallum
3^rd	Xavier Boderiou	Willie McCallum	Chris Armstrong

Judge 1	Herve Le Floc’h	Harry Stevenson	Iain McLellan
Judge 2	Jean Yves Magre	Kenny Stewart	Ian G Duncan

The overall winner, with a clean sweep this year was Alexis Meunier from Brittany. Jock Duncan, Gordon Duncan’s father, presented the prizes.

The competition was sponsored by McCallum Bagpipes who also provided the wonderful prizes.

The judges of the Breton music and the Scottish music in 2009.

2008

The second Gordon Duncan Invitational Solo Piping Competition was held on the January 26^th 2008 before a large crowd at the Central Hotel as part of the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow.

The invited competitors were:

From Scotland: Willie McCallum, Roddy MacLeod and Simon McKerrell
From Brittany: Xavier Boderiou, Alexis Meunier and Sylvain Hamon
From Ireland: Andrew Carlisle, Alen Tully and Ryan Canning

The judges were:

Jackie Pincet and Pierre Galais (Breton Section)
Kenny Stewart and Harry Stevenson (Irish Section)
Ian G Duncan and Iain MacLellan (Scottish Section)

The results were:

PLACE	BRETON SECTION	IRISH SECTION	SCOTTISH SECTION
1^st	Xavier Boderiou	Andrew Carlisle	Willie McCallum
2^nd	Alexis Meunier	Alexis Meunier	Andrew Carlisle
3^rd	Sylvain Hamon	Roddy MacLeod	Roddy McLeod

The overall winner for 2008 was Andrew Carlisle from Northern Ireland and was presented with the Gordon Duncan Trophy by Gordon’s father, Jock Duncan.

2007

The 2007 competitors were:

From Scotland: Roddy MacLeod, Simon McKerrell and Stuart Cassells (sadly, Stuart Cassells from Falkirk could not attend on the day)
From Brittany: Herve Le Floc’h, Sylvain Hamon and Charles Noim
From Ireland: Ryan Canning, Alen Tully and Andrew Carlisle

The judges were:

The Scottish Music was judged by Iain McLellan and Ian G Duncan
The Breton Piece was judged by Jackie Pincet and Pierre Galais
The Irish Music was judged by Harry Stevenson and Kenny Stewart

The results:

PLACE	BRETON SECTION	IRISH SECTION	SCOTTISH SECTION
1^st	Sylvain Hamon	Alen Tully	Andrew Carlisle
2^nd	Ryan Canning	Sylvain Hamon	Sylvain Hamon
3^rd	Herve Le Floc’h	Roddy MacLeod	Allen Tully

Sylvain Hamon, a member of Bagad Cap Caval from Brittany, was the overall winner of the first Gordon Duncan Memorial Solo Piping Competition. Sylvain won the Breton Section and was second in both the Irish and the Scottish events. Alen Tully, a member of St Laurence O’ Toole Pipe band was the overall runner up winning the Irish event and Andrew Carlisle of Northern Ireland finished third and winning the Scottish event. Every player competed in each event.

Gordon’s father, Jock Duncan presented the prizes to the winners.

John Wilson was the MC and McCallum Bagpipes sponsored a trophy for each of the three events as well as the overall prize, the Gordon Duncan Trophy.