Piping Instructor
 Greg, originally from Michigan, now resides in Kokomo, IN. He was a member of the Guelph Pipe Band, North American Champions, under the direction of Pipe Major Ed Neigh.
Among his many accomplishments, he was the Amateur Grade 1 Champion Supreme in Ontario, then began his professional career at the age of 16 and won the Piobaireachd Society (Canada) Gold Medal.
Over the years he has studied with such piping greats as P/M Frank Edgely, P/M Ed Neigh, Mr. John Goodnow, Captain John MacLellan, and currently with Mr. Wllie Connell. By profession Greg is high school teacher and teaches both German and History. |
Piping Instructor
 Jim began piping at the age of 10 in Dunedin, FL under the tutelage of Sandy Keith and currently studies with Sandy Jones, Ed Neigh, and Ronnie Lawrie.
Jim is the Director of Piping at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in Charleston, SC as well as the P/M of the Charleston Police Pipes and Drums which has bands competing in Grades II, IV, and V. He is a past member of The City of Dunedin, The Citadel, and The City of Washington Pipe Bands.
He is an active soloist competing at the professional level in the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association as well as being successful across North America and in Scotland. Jim also holds a Masters Degree in Education from The Citadel. |
Piping Instructor
 Nick Hudson is the Instructor of Piping and Supervisor of the Bagpipe Band at The College of Wooster and is the third graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University's Bagpipe Performance degree, under Alasdair Gillies and Jimmy McIntosh. While completing the music performance BFA he was also in the Music Education Certification program at Carnegie-Mellon. Nick holds the Graduate Certificate from the Institute of Piping, the highest possible for bagpipe performance. In addition to highland piping, Nick is an active performer and teacher of border/smallpipes and whistles.
He is a member of the Grade 1 Toronto Police Pipe Band and a regular guest player with Bagad Kevrenn Alre from Britanny, France, previously playing in the Grade 1 City of Washington PB and Bagad Brieg.
Performance highlights of 2015 include winning the Piob. Soc. Canadian Gold Medal (2nd in Maxville Clasp and 2nd in A Piob. on same weekend), 2nd Braemar Gold Medal, and #1 Overall Professional Piping in EUSPBA award. He has represented the US three times in Lorient's MacCrimmon competition and has a CPA grading of A- in both Light Music and Piobaireachd. He is a former winner of the United States Piping Foundation in Grade 1 and has won the overall professional prize in Scotland at Inverness games, Strathpeffer, Assynt, Glen Isla, Lonach, and in North America at Ligonier, Kingston, Woodberry Forest, and Grandfather Mountain.
Nick is a member of the EUSPBA Judges panel and currently resides in Pittsburgh where he teaches piping and organizes The Pittsburgh Piping Society. |
Piping Instructor
 Ed Krintz has been a performer of the highland bagpipe for over 51 years, and has studied under P/M Sandy Jones, James MacIntosh, and the late John MacFadyen. He is a panel adjudicator for the EUSPBA, and currently teaches piping in the Charlotte, NC area. |
Piping Instructor
 Dan Lyden is a full-time piping instructor, soloist and judge from Baltimore, Maryland. He is a professional-level soloist who has been awarded many prizes in professional competitions in the USA, Canada, and Scotland.
Dan was the Pipe Major of the Grade 1 City of Washington Pipe Band for many years. He led them as they competed at the top levels of the pipe band world, including the North American championships in Ontario, Canada and the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
Dan has been the overall top-ranked professional piper in the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association many times over the years. He has been awarded prizes in countless professional solo piping contests in the USA, Canada and Scotland. Notably, Dan has placed 2nd in the Canadian Gold Medal, 2nd in the Braemar Gold Medal (2023), and 1st place in the Birnam Highland Games open piobaireachd (2024). Most recently, Dan was awarded 3rd place in the Silver Medal at the Northern Meeting in Inverness, Scotland in August 2024 - one of the most prestigious and difficult solo competitions in the world. |
Piping Instructor
 Palmer has been the Director of Piping at the College of Wooster since 2017. Palmer played with one of the top pipe bands in North America, the Grade 1 Toronto Police Pipe Band, for eight years, during which time he performed at the Festival Interceltique in Lorient, France, the largest Celtic music festival in the world, competed in the finals of the World Pipe Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, and recorded an acclaimed CD album. Currently, Palmer competes solo in the professional ranks in Canada, the U.S., and Scotland. Beginning his studies at the young age of 10 in Ligonier, PA, Palmer has been lucky to study with some of the best performers and tradition-bearers from Scotland (Jimmy McIntosh, Alasdair Gillies, Willie Morrison, and Duncan Watson.) In addition to performing regularly, he teaches four different pipe bands weekly in OH and PA, along with maintaining a large private lesson studio. Palmer was the 2017 Professional Piper of the Day at the Ohio Scottish Games and will be the Artistic Pipe Major for the 2022 Cleveland International Tattoo. Palmer teaches pipes full-time in Pittsburgh, PA and is the P/M of the Grade IV Macdonald Pipe Band. |
Piping Instructor
 A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University's conservatory of music, Lyric is the second person in the world to hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts in music performance on the bagpipe.
After a successful amateur career, including overall wins at the George Sheriff, Nicol-Brown, and United States Piping Foundation, Lyric upgraded to professional in 2003. Since then, he has been a member of the Scottish Lion 78th Fraser Highlanders and a regular prizewinner in North America and Scotland. Results include placing at the U.S. Gold Medal, Canadian Gold Medal, and the Silver Medal at Inverness.
In addition to competitive piping, Lyric teaches the St. Thomas' Episcopal School Pipe Band in Houston, Texas. The 5-time juvenile World Champions won their most recent World title in 2006 and were first at the North American Championships in 2008. |
Drumming Instructor
 Ed is a 45+ year veteran of pipe band drumming, A level drumming and ensemble judge (WUSPBA / EUSPBA certified), and an educator with a B.A. in Music Education and Percussion, who has won North American Champion, East Coast Champion Supreme, Ontario Champion Supreme, West Coast Champion of Champions, and Canadian Champion. He has played in every grade at, working up to placing in Grade 1 at the World Pipe Band Championships. Even having won the drumming for the qualifying round. He previously served on the Music Board of WUSPBA and as the WUSPBA Southern Branch President. Ed is a former elementary and high school music teacher and band director. Ed has played in many pipe bands including the LA Scots, Misty Isle, North Coast, Blandford, and got his start in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He is currently the Lead Drummer for the Phoenix Pipe Band. He is busy teaching and adjudicating all over the US on a regular basis and most notably teaches at UC Riverside, and is the primary drum instructor at Dojo University(Piper's Dojo). |
Drumming Instructor
 Hannah Boyles Skinner started her pipe band career with the Grandfather Mountain Highlanders in 2009. She has been competing at a professional level in both bass and tenor since 2013. Hannah has written scores and provided instruction for bands throughout the southern United States. During this time, she played snare in a WGI independent line and West Lincoln High School. She graduated from Methodist University in 2018 with music degrees in Percussion Performance and Music Education. While in school, she joined the Grade 2 City of Dunedin Pipe Band, winning the 2018 World Pipe Band Championship. The following year, she competed with the City of Dunedin Grade 1 band winning the North American championships. She teaches annually at the North American Academy of Piping and Drumming in North Carolina as well as the Greensboro Tenor and Bass workshop. She is the Lead Drummer for the Virginia International Tattoo. Hannah lives in Williamsburg, VA and applies her Masters in Leadership in Education to her foundational instruction of the Scottish Arts with Drumming in the Grey. |
