The Keith Radley Hutchison AwardAfter the sudden passing of Keith Hutchison, this award was created by his friends during 1998. He was an enthusiastic supporter of all things Scottish in Montreal. The award is given annually to a piper at The Black Watch (RHR) of Canada who possesses exceptional piping skills, has demonstrated a strong ability to play the instrument solo and who possesses an excellent character.
In addition to serving as a memorial, the purpose of the award is to encourage and support excellent pipers and to maintain the strong ties that have existed between the Black Watch Pipes and Drums and the Society. The award shall be given to a piper at the Black Watch Royal Highland Regiment of Montreal, who: 1. Possesses exceptional piping skills; 2. Has demonstrated a strong ability to play the instrument alone; 3. And who possesses an excellent character. 2022 RecipientPiper Annie Jacques (left) with Pipe Major Cameron Stevens
The 2022 winner is Piper Annie Jacques. Annie is an associate member of The Black Watch (RHR) of Canada Pipes and Drums who originally hails from the Saguenay. Her varied musical background includes playing saxophone in high school and lead guitar in a cover band. She began learning bagpipes in 2013, and since then her appearances have included the World Pipe Band Championship in Glasgow in 2016, the Black Watch Military Tattoo in 2017, and various Highland games throughout Quebec and Ontario. She performs frequently as a soloist and has taken part in many solo competitions, including a second-place win in the Montreal Highland Games virtual solo competition in 2020.
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Previous winners: 1998 Pipe Major Jordon Anderson 1999 Piper Stephane Chamberland 2000 Piper Philip Butler 2001 Piper Jeff Thorpe 2002 Piper Brent Schaus 2003 Pipe Major Cameron Stevens 2004 Piper Hugh Dowell 2005 Piper Josh Odermatt 2006 Piper Terri Lynn McLaren 2007 Piper Ian Leblanc 2008 Piper Ron Rice -- 2013 Piper Alexandre Leger 2014 Piper Maxime Langevin 2015 Piper Robert W. Kerr 2016 Piper Malcolm David Cox 2017 Piper Sasha Mathew 2018 Piper Patrick Leduc 2019 Piper Alec McGuckin 2020 Piper Robert Kerr 2021 Piper Bruce Bolton 2022 Piper Kevin Toupin 2023 Piper Annie Jacques |