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 Juvenile 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.

Ryan MacDonald

Hailing from North Shore, Cape Breton Island, Ryan was fortunate to grow up in an area richly steeped in the Gaelic language and culture.

Ryan began piping at the age of 12 while attending the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts in St. Ann's, Nova Scotia. She joined the Gaelic College Pipe Band and was a member when they won the Grade 3 North American and World Pipe Band Championships. During this time, under the tutelage of John Walsh, Ryan competed extensively throughout Canada, the United States and Scotland. She moved to Hamilton, Ontario in 1996 to play with the Peel Regional Police Pipe Band under the leadership of Michael Grey, and remained a member of the band until 2000.

Ryan was an instructor at the Gaelic College for 11 years, teaching both highland bagpipes and smallpipes. In 2005, she performed at the Celtic Colours International Festival, playing smallpipes on Hamish Moore's (soon to be released) live recording by Greentrax Records, 'The Piper and The Maker 2'.

Ryan competed in the 2008 season with the Peel Regional Police Pipe Band and most recently she’s taught at the Highland Musical Arts School in Portland, OR and Hamish Moore’s Bellowspipe School in Richmond, Vermont. In the fall of 2008 she returned home to perform for her third time at the Celtic Colours International Festival.

Currently residing in Victoria, Ryan operates her own photography business.

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.

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 from Inverness 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 lessons 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. After also winning prizes at Glenfinnan, Forfar, and Braemar, 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 worked as a minister of the Anglican Church of Canada for many years, and has served in parishes across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and in South America. He currently lives in Kendal, Saskatchewan, with his wife and four children and serves as a missionary bishop with the Anglican Orthodox Church.

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.

James P. Troy

James brings an extensive background as a soloist and band musician. As a professional solo player of both the pipes and snare drum, he is equally at home with both pipes and drums. James was most recently a member of the Spirit of Scotland Pipe Band drum corps, who garnered much attention in the 2008 season, and he also was the winner of all three pro piping events at the BC Pipers Annual Gathering, and the winner of several prizes at the Scottish Society of London competition in London, England.

James began both piping and drumming at age six, studying piping with his father, James W. Troy, and drumming with his uncle, Colin Magee. At age 11 he joined his first band, the renowned City of Victoria Pipe Band. His band playing background also includes the Peel Regional Police and 78th Fraser Highlanders pipe bands of Toronto.

In addition to his extensive band experience, James has won numerous prizes throughout Canada and the United States as a soloist. He has judged piping and drumming events on numerous occasions, and is a member of the British Columbia Pipers' Association adjudicators' panel.

In recent years James has become well known for the quality of his seminars for both pipers and drummers. He is a valued resource for pipe band players, presenting seminars on ensemble concepts and teaching at major summer programs in the United States and Canada. In addition, he has a number of private students in Victoria.

In 1998 James and his father, James W. Troy, acquired the reed business of the world-famous McAllister family of Shotts, Scotland. Today they continue to manufacture the McAllister pipe chanter reed to the McAllisters' exact specifications.

Outside the piping/pipe band genre, James has toured across Canada with major record labels in the past couple of years.