The PPBSO-Ottawa Branch saw once again that the piping and drumming community is alive and well in Eastern Ontario. With both a strong turnout of competitors and a packed house at the HMCS Bytown of spectators being entertained with a full day pipes and drums.
The day started with a bass and mid-section workshop by area master Kahlil Cappuccino. The evening then progressed to full onslaught of competitive piping and drumming  as we saw both the A and B grades on the ticket. The evening was capped off with piping judge Andrew Carlisle dazzling the crowd with a recital that showed why he’s one of the best.
The night of contests started with the B-grade drummers being asked to play a jig, followed by the A-grade drumming 6/8. We then moved on to a new event for the branch with a mini-MSR contest for the B-piping. Each competitor was asked to submit and play two parts of 2/4 march, strathspey and reel. The final contest was the A-grade pipers vying for the Allan Quinn Memorial Trophy.
The big winners were….
B-Grade Drumming Jig: 1-Jordan Francais Dunn, 2-Shahna Summers, 3-Brandon Joseph Nadeau, 4-Joshua Brazeau, 5-Malcom Odell
A-Grade Drumming 6/8: 1-Rita DeNobriga
B-Grade Piping Mini-MSR: 1-Finley Van de ven, 2-Lynn MacGillivary, 3-Callum Gauthier, 4-Ysahnn Leonard, 5-Ron J. Graham, 6-Rowan Meyer
A-Grade Piping MSR (Allan Quin Memorial Trophy): 1-Kaitlin Kimove, 2-Charles-David Mitchell, 3-Ryan D. Ross, 4-Thomas Bruce, 5-Hugh Metcalfe, 6-Andrew Robertson
Judging for all drumming events was by Chris Bell
Judging all piping events and recitalist was Andrew Carlisle
These contests also determined who got through to final round medley contests on March 5th and who will be crowned the 2015-16 knock-out series champs. Making it through are….
A-Piping: Kaitlin Kimove, Charles-David Mitchell, Ryan D. Ross and Ross Davison
B-Piping: Findlay Van de ven, Lynn MacGillivary and Callum Gauthier
A-Drumming: Rita DeNobriga
B-Drumming: Jordan Francis Dunn, Shahna Summers, Brandon Joseph Nadeau, Malcom Odell and Joshua Brazeau