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Tyler Fry
Tyler Fry is considered by many to be the fastest (and most musical) stick flourisher in the world. Awarded every major professional solo championship title in North America by the age of 14, Tyler was a member of three World Champion mid-sections with the 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band, most recently in 2003. As a member of House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band, he helped win the 2005 World Pipe Band Championship and Best Drum Corps titles.
A member of the Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario Music Board, Tyler travels extensively throughout Europe and the Americas performing master classes. His company TyFry produces a popular tenor drumstick and an instructional CD-ROM. TyFry sponsors a number of top events, including the Drumming for Drinks event at the World Pipe Band Championships.
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Doug Stronach
Doug Stronach is originally from Perth, Scotland, and he was the 1986 World Junior Solo Snare Drum Championship. He played with the ScotRail Vale of Atholl Pipe Band from Pitlochry at a time when the band won both the Scottish and British Championships and placed third in the World Championships. He played on the Vale's 1984 release, Both Sides of the Tracks produced by Freeland Barbour and 1988s Salutation, produced by noted Scottish singer-songwriter, Dougie MacLean.
In November 1988, Doug moved to Canada to begin working as a full-time pipe band drumming instructor. His renown as an innovative teacher spread quickly. His students have won every major solo drumming prize from grade 4 to Open. In addition, Doug has taught or played with drum corps that have won every grade of champion supreme honors in Ontario and three of Doug's students are now members of the current World Championship HOE Shott's and Dykehead drum corps. Doug is currently leading drummer with the Toronto Police Pipe Band.
Doug owns and operates Eclipse Music Productions, a company that specializes in recording and music production.
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Graham Brown
Graham began drumming in October 1991. His first band was the Milton Optimist Juvenille Pipe Band, under the direction of his mother Gail Brown. The band was very successful, winning the World Juvenille Championships in 1994 and the World Championships in grade 3 in 1997. He began playing in grade 1 in 1998 with the Peel Regional Police Pipe Band. Graham played there for 2 seasons before joining the 78th Fraser Highlanders in the fall of 1999. Here he spent 2 seasons before realizing his lifelong dream of playing with Jim Kilpatrick and Shotts and Dykehead. The first year with Shotts was 2002. With the band Graham has won 2 World Pipe Band Championships, 3 World Drum Corps Championships, 4 drum corps Champion of Champion titles, and accumulated a total of 16 Major Drumming Wins. In September 2007 Graham was named Drum Sergeant of the Peel Regional Police Pipe Band. In Solo competition Graham has won every major award in Ontario, and in 2007 was a Finalist at the World Solo Drumming Championships. |
Glenn Brown
Glenn Brown has been piping since the age of 9. He has been fortunate enough to study with some great tutors over the years. Main instructors have been his mother Gail Brown and William McCallum, who he is still currently studying with. In the past year or so, Glenn has competed in and won: The 2007 Dunvegan Medal for piobaireachd, The Canadian Gold Medal, The A Grade Piobaireachd and the MSR at the London Championship, and The Kansas City Gold Medal in both Piobaireachd and Light Music. Last year, Glenn won The Cameron-Gillies Championship at the Dan Reid Memorial Competition in San Francisco. Glenn is was a member of the World Championship Milton Optimist Pipe Band [Grade 3] and more recently won the Grade 1 World Pipe Band Championship with the House of Edgar Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia, of which he has been a member for several years. In fall 2007, Glenn took over as pipe major of the Grade 1 Peel Regional Police Pipe Band in Ontario. |
Andrew Rogers
Andrew Rogers began playing the bagpipe at age ten under the tutelage of the late Ivan Downie, long time Pipe Major of the Fredericton Society of St. Andrew Pipe Band. After playing with that organization for a number of years and helping the band win a number of grade two North American championships, Andrew left the band in 1995 to seriously pursue his professional solo competitive career. Since then he has accumulated many piping awards around North America and Scotland including the very prestigious and much sought after Silver Medal at the Argyllshire Gathering in Oban, Scotland and the MHAF United States Gold Medal at Kansas City. He currently teaches piping to students in Fredericton, New Brunswick and various piping schools in Canada and the United States, plays with the grade one 78th Highlanders out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, is a senior solo piping and pipe band adjudicator for the Atlantic Canada Pipe Band Association, and continues to compete at the Open level around Canada, the United States and Scotland. Andrew also has the Piping and Drumming Qualifications Board Level Six for piping and the Teacher‚s Certificate from the National Piping Centre, Glasgow, Scotland.
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Garth Neel
Garth was born in Dauphin, Manitoba in 1955, and learned to play pipes in the local Legion pipe band under Nigel Alakija, a Scottish-trained piper who arrived in Dauphin and did a lot to organize the band and the Scottish community. Garth eventually became pipe major of the Dauphin Legion Pipe Band, and in later years also led the Grade 1 Centennial Pipe Band of Winnipeg. Garth attended summer schools in Saskatchewan, and he ended up traveling to Scotland to take lesson with Donald MacLeod. Garth is remembered for winning the March contest at Inverness in the days before events were graded, and all the great pipers were in the same event. Garth returned to Canada, and spent some time with the City of Victoria Pipe Band, before returning to the prairies, and to university, where he studied English literature and later divinity. Garth has been working as a Minister of the Anglican Church for many years, and has served in parishes across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and in South America.
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Doug MacRae
Doug MacRae is originally from London, Ontario where he first received tuition from John and Archie Cairns. He has experienced a successful competitive career as a consistent prize-winner through the ranks. Some of his accomplishments include the Pipers' and Pipe Band Society of Ontario Champion Supreme Award for Junior and Senior Amateur Piobaireachd. In 2004, Doug took first prize in the Professional Piobaireachd event at the North American Championships. He now lives in Houston, Texas working as a director of the five-time Juvenile World Champion, St. Thomas’ Episcopal School Pipe Band.
Doug is the former Pipe Sergeant of the St. Thomas Pipe Band (Ontario), and is now in his ninth year with the Scottish Lion - 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band. Doug is also a certified adjudicator for the PPBSO. |
Andrew Smith
Andrew Smith comes from a family with a strong piping tradition, and he has been one of Alberta's top pipers for a number of years. He has been a consistent winner at solo competitions in Western Canada and the USA, and for many years played with the Alberta Caledonia Pipe Band. His solo piping can be heard on their CDs. Andrew teaches piping in Calgary, and is currently attending university. After many years as a player with AlCal, Andrew has recently joined the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band for the 2008 season. |
School Director
Iain MacDonald
Iain has been piping for over 35 years and during this time, he has studied under P/M Donald MacLeod, MBE; Iain McLeod (Edinburgh), James McMillan, and brothers Jack and Terry Lee. He has rich experience playing in Grade One bands, including the Babcock-Renfrew Pipe Band of Scotland and the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band of British Columbia--with whom he placed second (twice) in the World Pipe Band Championships. Iain was the founder of the Grade 2 City of Regina Pipe Band in 1992, and has been Pipe Major since that time. As a soloist, Iain has featured in the prizes at many events, including the BC Pipers Annual Gathering, the Maxville and Montreal Highland Games, The Pacific Northwest Highland Games, and Highland games in Scotland. Iain's accomplishments include highland dancing, pipe band and folk recordings; writing, composing and editing for pipe music collections; organization of bands, highland games, and other events. He holds the Graduate Certificate of the Institute of Piping. iain runs his own communications company and also markets Fred Morrison Reelpipes. |
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