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I received the exciting news today that I won first place in the Original Piobaireachd Music Composing Competition. The competition was organized by the Shasta Piping Society and co-sponsored by Burley Bagpipes. The competition was run absolutely perfectly. The top-notch international panel of world-class piping judges — Mike Cusack, Bill Livingstone, Robert Wallace — judged the tunes with no knowledge of the composer's identity. There was great communication from the organizers all around. I really enjoyed the process of writing my tune and grateful for the opportunity to be part of the growing movement to create new music to add to our collective repertoire. I titled my winning tune Colin MacKenzie's Salute in honor of my first piping teacher, who was an inspiration to me. Many pipers consider Piobaireachd to be the most challenging and satisfying form of bagpipe music. I've always loved the opportunity to study the tunes and feel a deeper connection to ...