Competition Results:
2005-2006 Competition Season:
October, 2005: 5th (tied) in Open
Grade at the Richmond Highland Games
in Richmond, VA; out of a field of 7. I was playing a new set: Oran Gillean Alasdair Mhoir,
Scott Skinner's Welcome to Inverness/The Lime Hill/Father Francis Cameron, but got hit with
a bad case of the nerves, and that cost me severely.
October, 2005: 2nd in Open
Grade at the Anne Arundel Highland Games
in Anne Arundel, MD; out of a field of 2. I played very well, and was only a few points out of first. My
three-flats set finally come into its own.
September, 2005: Competitor in Open
Grade at the New Hampshire Highland Games
in Concord, NH; out of a field of 7. I played fairly well, but the competition was incredibly
good.
September, 2005: 3rd Place in Open
Grade at the Ligonier Highland Games
in Ligonier, PA; out of a field of 10. I didn't play my best here, but thought I did fairly
respectably.
July, 2005: 2nd Place & Best Strathspey in Open
Grade at the Virginia Scottish Games
in Alexandria, VA; out of a field of about 6. I had gone from playing the march ABA to ABABA (with a very
bare version the first time through), and I lost my place - but other than that flub, I played brilliantly.
Had the march gone better, I might have won.
July, 2005: Competitor in Open
Grade at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games
in Linville, NC; out of a field of 7. My choice of tunes (the same as at Nationals and
Southern Maryland) seems to be working against me. These tunes are so hard that the gap between
my abilities in a performance and a competition has just grown, despite assurances from the
judges that they get better each time they see me.
2004-2005 Competition Season:
May, 2005: Competitor in Open
Grade at the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship
in Houston, TX; out of a field of 10. This was a very tough contest, because among the competitors
were two former National champions, and two former Junior National champions. Needless to say,
they locked up 1st through 4th place. I became very nervous through the air, and it cost me
severely, though I began to recover through the march. I lost the tune during the reel, but managed
to stay on beat until I got back to it. All the judges were very complimentary, though. All noted
that I had been courageous to play on gut, and to play this particular set (The Sadness of Life,
Captain Cameron's Volunteers, Dean Brig of Edinburgh,
Banks), and commented on slight intonation issues. I thought it was me, but one judge
insisted that it was the instrument. I need to remember not to be self-conscious about tuning; even
if no one else is giving their instrument a final tune before they go, they're playing on metal, and
I am on gut, and thus I have a good excuse. I feel that technically, at least, I was head and
shoulders above my performance two weeks earlier in Southern Maryland, and that if I hadn't had
the nerves, this set might have really sounded fantastic.
April, 2005: 3rd place in Open
Grade at the Southern Maryland Celtic Festival in
Calvert Co., MD; out of a field of four. The judge was Elke Baker. I was fairly disappointed
by this performance, but there were mitigating factors. Firstly, I was playing an extremely
difficult set (The Sadness of Life, Captain Cameron's Volunteers, Dean Brig of Edinburgh,
Banks), and I knew that would cost me. I got no sleep the night before, and I was
having tuning issues with my new gut strings in the hot, humid hall and a slipping d-string peg
on top of that. The extended tuning exercise before the air, and again before the MSR, rattled
me quite significantly - and another competitor's attempts to relate tuning anecdotes during
this process didn't help. So I started the set very nervous, and it affected my bowing most, and
didn't help my intonation. The hope going into this contest was that I would work out the kinks
in my new competition set, in preparation for playing it at Nationals in two weeks.
October, 2004: Scratched in Open
Grade at the Anne Arundel Highland Games outside
Annapolis, MD; I couldn't make it to the games because of an auto accident the week before that
totalled my car.
September, 2004: Competitor in Open
Grade at the New Hampshire Highland Games
in Concord, New Hampshire, out of a field of 7. I honestly don't know what happened
here. I played extremely well, and got good marks on my score sheet - though the judge
didn't seem to like my interpretation of the reel much. I certainly was the crowd favorite,
and while the top-placing competitors played well, I felt I should have been among them.
All in all, though, I wonder if this wasn't a quirk of the judge (who
admitted to "judging on taste" here). Nonetheless, I was very happy with my own performance.
I had none of the nerves and resultant "bouncy bow" that had heretofore plagued me, and
aside a from a small flub in the final bars, there's nothing in that set I'd have done
differently.
September, 2004: Competitor in Open
Grade at the Ligonier Highland Games in Ligonier, PA;
I think I did pretty well here; the judge only ranked to 3rd place, and I suspect I got 4th.
I was somewhat thrown by the wooden stage and the microphone on it. It was way too loud when I
tapped my foot, and I kinda became self-conscious about it, and that hurt my concentration.
July, 2004: 4th place and Best Set in Open
Grade at the Virginia Scottish Games
in Alexandria, Virginia, out of a field of 6. The judge was my fiddle teacher, Elke
Baker. This contest was the 1st anniversiary of my competitive career. I was fairly
happy with this showing, but I was hit by a sudden bout of nerves, and it cost me,
executionally. I did receive praise from several of the other competitors, who were
amazed to see how far I'd come in just a year.
July, 2004: 4th place and Best March in Open
Grade at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games
in North Carolina, out of a field of 9.
The judge, who did not assign points, was Barbara MacOwen. According to the judge,
we all played extremely well, and the results were more like a tie for first, and I tied
for second, the playing was that close. First through fourth place qualified for the 2005
Nationals. I was surprised at my showing. I lost my place in the march, and had to
play 2 measures of improvization before I found where I was. And while my recovery was seamless,
it threw me mentally, and the adrenal response took over. By the reel, it was all I could do
to keep myself together and not break down. The judge's comments were very helpful - and didn't
mention my distress. I suspect she noticed it, and thought it didn't need remarking upon. Having
placed, though, I feel somewhat guilty. The people who took 5th through 7th played extremely well,
and were very deserving in my view.
2003-2004 Competition Season:
May, 2004: Competitor in Open
Grade at the 2004
U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship at the Houston Highland Games, out of a
field of 7; I did not place, and was probably 6th or 7th among a bunch
of fantastic players. To even make it to Nationals during my first year
of competition is a great honor and thrill. I scored 1017/1200 points
on my score sheet; and the judges' comments were very complimentary and
encouraging. The judges were Calum MacKinnon, Jan Tappan, and Janny
McConnell-Kirk.
May.
2004: 2nd place in Open grade at the Houston Highland Games, out of a
field of two. We were both very closely matched, I think, and the
ranking could have easily gone the other way. I scored 347/400 points
on my
score sheet. At the judge's discretion, I was qualified for nationals.
The judge was Calum MacKinnon.
Apr.
2004: 5th place in Open grade at the Southern Maryland Celtic Festival,
out of field of six. I was somewhat unhappy with my performance
(I was running really late, and didn't have time to warm up much),
but the competition was intense - so much so that the reigning national
champion took 3rd. The judge was Dr. John Turner.
Oct. 2003: 2nd place in Open grade at the
Richmond Highland Games and Celtic
Festival, out of a field of around
six or seven. I scored 344/400 on my score sheet. The judge
was Dr. John Turner.
Jul.
2003: 1st place in Senior Novice grade at the
Virginia Scottish Games
in July 2003, out of a field of two. I scored a total of 260/300 on my
score sheet. The judge was Dr. John Turner.
The page background is the Walker Hunting tartan, registered by
Robert Walker Hawks of Tennessee in 1991. Hunting tartans replace
the main color (usually red) with a green, and usually incorporate
other color substitutions. They are worn for informal occasions,
often (but not always) associated with the outdoors.
Made on a Mac.
Last Updated 10 January 2006, 11:29 AM ET