Steven McWhirter

We welcome Steven to his first Todds Bar Recital as the current World Solo Drumming Champion. 

Born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, in 1983, Steven McWhirter now lives in Ahoghill and usually in recent years, spendt his summers in Vancouver as a member of the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, which he has played with for the past six years. Steven has now swapped this with the beauty of Argyllshire where he is now lead tip with the Inveraray and Disttrict Pipe Band.  Before SFU, he played with the Grade 2 Cullybackey Pipe Band and the Grade 3 Warrnambool & District Pipe Band of Australia, where he instructed during an Australian summer. Originally taught drumming by his father, other mentors include Adrian Hoy; former World Solo Champion Bobby Rea; and J. Reid Maxwell, SFU leading-drummer.

McWhirter started drumming at age 10. With his first band, Cullybackey, he played the tenor-drum before moving to the snare-line. The band won the Grade 2 drumming title at the 2001 World's, and in 2002 McWhirter accepted an invitation from Maxwell to join SFU.

His success at the 2006 World Solos was preceded by winning Under-15 World Solo titles in 1997 and 1998, the All-Ireland and Ulster Junior Solos in 2002, the All-Ireland and the Ulster Intermediate solos in 2004. Especially since his October 2006 win, Steven McWhirter has been in demand for workshops and schools in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Scotland and Ireland.