In 2009 the piping instructors are;

Ryan Canning

Ryan hails from Londonderry, Northern Ireland, where he began his piping career in 1992 at the age of fourteen. Remarkably, it was just four years later that he joined the world renowned Field Marshal Montgomery, one of the most celebrated pipe bands of all time. In his tenured eleven seasons with the band, Ryan has won six Scottish Championships, three British Championship, six European Championships, ten Ulster Championships, nine All-Ireland Championships, five Cowal Championships, four RSPBA Champion of Champions awards, and four coveted World Championship titles.

Ryan’s piping success extends beyond his achievements with the illustrious Field Marshal. Ryan, a budding solo competitor, has taken numerous prizes on the Irish scene at the Ulster and All-Ireland Solos, as well as first place finishes at the Piper of the Year on more than one occasion. In his first year on the Scottish solo circuit, Ryan walked away with several top prizes in the B grades, most recently finishing off the 2005 season as winner of the MSR and runner up of the Hornpipe and Jig at London.

Ryan’s compositions have made him a household name amongst music fans. Ryan’s music is played by bands and soloists the world over and is recorded on numerous CDs, including the World Championship series in 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, the double Millennium Concert Album in 2000, Manawatu’s The Calling in 2004, and Field Marshal Montgomery’s Unplugged Album in 2002. The 2004 release of his first music book, The Full Monty, gained great reviews world wide and an honourable mention as one of the best books of the year from Piper and Drummer Online.

Ryan is highly sought after as both instructor and performer, and has travelled as far as France, Australia, and the United States to teach classes and workshops, and has been a featured recitalist for numerous bands and piping societies. Despite his competitive background, Ryan is most at home performing his own compositions in an informal “kitchen piping” setting, where speed, excitement, and the entertainment of the audience remain his chief enjoyment. Ryan moved to Scotland in 2003 where he began a career in the piping industry, working with McCallum Bagpipes as their Production and Despatch Manager. After just three years he was ready to pioneer his own company, founding Canning Reedmakers in March 2006, and establishing a new line of his own top quality bagpipe reeds.

Finlay MacDonald BASM

Finlay started piping at the age of ten with tuition from his father, Pipe Major Iain MacDonald of the Neilston and District Pipe Band.
With Neilston Pipe Band he has travelled world wide playing at concerts and festivals as far a field as Japan, China, Russia and all over Europe.

After 3 years studying at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Finlay was in the first class to graduate with a BA Scottish Music. Having specialised in performance and composing, he has been in demand as a performer and has toured with top Scottish Bands such as Def Shepherd, Battlefield Band, Old Blind Dogs and the Kate Rusby Band. Based in Glasgow, Finlay has been popular as a session musician recording on as many as 20 albums in many different musical generes including Jazz, Classical and Traditional.

His first solo album was released in 2000 to critical acclaim and after that formed the “Finlay MacDonald Band”. This band combines the idioms of Contemporary Piping with Jazz, Funk and Dance. The album “Pressed For Time” was released in 2003 and the band have been touring in Italy, France and Spain with great success.

John Mulhearn

25 year old John from Troon, Ayrshire, began his piping career at the age of nine, initially receiving tuition from his father, Brian. After a short while he started regular lessons with retired Strathclyde Police Pipe Sgt., and double Gold medalist, Angus J. MacLellan, receiving extra tuition in the summers from John D. Burgess among others. After a successful junior career in which he won most of the major prizes - including the Carnoustie Championship and MacGregor Memorial - and one year in the senior ranks - being runner-up in the Dunvegan Medal, and third in the Oban and Inverness Silver Medals - he decided to give the pipes a rest for five years. Last year he started competing once more, winning the Duncan Johnstone MSR among other prizes.

Aside from traditional piping John produces experimental electronic music based on pipe tunes. An album of his material is scheduled for release in the near future.

Glenn Brown

Glenn Brown is 25 years old and originally from Milton, Ontario Canada. He is currently living in Glasgow Scotland where he is playing with the Scottish Power Pipe Band. His instructors are his mother Gail Brown and Mr. Willie McCallum. Over the past few years he has won such prizes as The Canadian Gold Medal, The American Gold Medals for Ceol Mor and Ceol Beag at the Winter Storm competition in Kansas City. The A grade Piobaireachd and A grade MSR at the London Championships, The Dunvegan Medal for Piobaireachd as well as placing 3rd in the London Medallion Former Winners MSR contest at the London Championships.