The National Piping Centre

Chris Armstrong

Originally from Bathgate, Chris during the earlier years of his piping career was taught by PM John Matheson BEM.
Chris is a full time instructor at the National Piping Centre.
Past successes include winning the Bratach Gorm, J. B. Robertson Rose Bowl and the Overall Champion Piper at the Scottish Piping Society of London in 2007, 1st in the Former Winners MSR at the Argyllshire Gathering and also the A grade MSR at the Northern Meeting. 1st in the PM Donald MacLeod Memorial MSR, runner up at the Scottish Pipers Former Winners MSR, placed 2nd in the Former Winners MSR at the Northern Meeting. He has been the overall champion in 2002/03 at the Cowal Highland Gathering and in 2003 he won the Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting.
Chris was appointed the Pipe Major of the ScottishPower Pipe Band in 2006.

Callum Beaumont

Callum originally comes from Bo’ness, West Lothian. He plays with the Inveraray and District Pipe Band and also teaches at The National Piping Centre. His tutors include Bert Smith, Tom Speirs and Willie McCallum.

Callum has played with the Lothian and Borders Police Pipe band, Shotts and Dykehead, Simon Fraser University and more recently Inveraray and District Pipe Band. His pipe band prizes include winning the World Pipe Band championships three times, twice with Simon Fraser University and once with Shotts and Dykehead.

In Callums solo career he has won the silver medal at Oban , been placed in the Gold medal and A grade MSR at Inverness and 1st place in the Open Piobaireachd at Cowal. Callum has also feature on a CD called The Young Ones when he was a mere 15 years old, which is a traditional piping CD.

Glenn Brown

Glenn Brown is 26 years old and originally from Milton, Ontario, Canada. Glenn is a piper with the ScottishPower Pipe Band and teaches at The National Piping Centre. For the past 8 years Glenn has studied with Mr. Willie McCallum. Some notable prizes within the last few years include, the Canadian Gold Medal, the Dunvegan Medal, the American Gold Medals for Ceol Mor and Ceol Beag and the A grade Piobaireachd and MSR at the London Championships. In 2009 Glenn placed 2nd in the Gold Medal at the Argyllshire Gathering, as well as winning the A grade March and coming 4th in the Strathspey and Reel. The following week Glenn was victorious in winning the Gold Medal at the Northern Meeting.

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.

Ryan recently joined the Piping Centre as “Post School Learning Co-ordinator” and is mainly responsible for the Evening Classes.

Alisdair McLaren

Alisdair is from Perth, Western Australia. He began piping at Trinity College in Perth at the age of 13 and played with Armadale City Pipe Band when they won the Australian & South Pacific Championships Grade 3. He was also promoted to Pipe Major of the Trinity College Pipes & Drums that year.

Alisdair joined Western Australia Police Pipe Band (WAPOL) in 1997 and was a part of a very successful period for the band winning the 1998 Grade 2 World Championships, 2001 Grade 1 American championships and a 10th place at the 2004 World Championships Grade 1.

In 2005 whilst still living in Perth, Australia, Alisdair became the first fly in guest player for the world renowned Strathclyde Police Pipe Band, 12 times winners of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Associations World Pipe Band Championships, where he has been a part of the band’s recent success.

In 2006 Alisdair was appointed to the position of Pipe Major of the Western Australia Police Pipe Band which he held for 12 months before relocating to Glasgow in October 2007.

Alisdair is also an accomplished solo piper having won many prizes throughout Australia and has recently started competing in Scotland. At the end of 2008 he joined the ranks of the 6 time World Champions, Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band.