Steven McWhirter Sweeps Pacific Rim Solo Snare Drumming Championship in Vancouver

Steven McWhirter swept the MSR, the BCPA Compound Time March and the Hornpipe & Jig to win the Pacific Rim Adult Solo Snare Drumming Championship on February 21, 2026 at the Seaforth Armoury in Vancouver, earning CAD $2,500 and leaving his competitors with little doubt about the overall title; if you missed the contest, high-resolution videos of each performance appear on the BCPA YouTube channel about two hours after the event.

The MSR section was run by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association as an RSPBA qualifier and was judged by Ian Lawson and Duncan Millar. McWhirter placed first in the MSR, listed as Falkirk, Scotland, taking the $500 first-place prize and the J. Reid Maxwell Medal, which was presented by J. Reid Maxwell; Cameron Lawson of Glasgow finished second for $300, Eric MacNeill of Dunedin, Florida was third for $200, and Robert Graham of Everett, Washington was fourth for $100. The top four finishers in that MSR qualify for the World Solo Drumming Championships semi-final in Glasgow in October, and the MSR at Vancouver was the second of the RSPBA’s eight-competition Champion of Champions League events.

In the BCPA Compound Time March, judged by Duncan Millar and Cameron Reid, McWhirter again took first place and the $500 prize. Robert Graham placed second and won $300, Eric MacNeill was third for $200, Malcolm Fuller of Coquitlam ranked fourth, with Cameron Lawson and Kyle Wardell completing the top six.

McWhirter’s Hornpipe & Jig victory came under the adjudication of Ian Lawson and Cameron Reid and carried a $500 first-place prize. Eli Fugate of San Diego finished second for $300, Megan Millar of Port Coquitlam placed third for $200, and Robert Graham, Cameron Lawson and Eric MacNeill rounded out the standings.

The event’s overall prizes underlined McWhirter’s dominance: overall first place paid $1,000 to McWhirter, second overall went to Robert Graham for $500, and Cameron Lawson took third overall for $250. The three individual first-place prizes of $500 each plus the $1,000 overall award reconcile to the CAD $2,500 total McWhirter realized at the Vancouver competition.

McWhirter’s Pacific Rim sweep adds to an already distinguished solo résumé. Born in 1983 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, he is lead snare of the Inveraray & District Pipe Band and holds an extensive list of solo titles, including under-15 World Solo Championships in 1997 and 1998 and adult World Solo Drumming Championship victories in 2006, every year from 2011 through 2019, and again in 2024; he was also the World Solo Drumming Champion in 2016, a year noted as his sixth consecutive title in that run.

Presented by the BC Pipers’ Association and hosted by the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, the Vancouver contest offered live competition and post-show video access; the BC Pipers’ Association also notes donations support the event and that it is a registered charity, #889778197RR0001. With the top four from the MSR now qualified for the RSPBA semi-final in Glasgow this October, attention in the solo snare community turns to who will match McWhirter on the world stage.