Welcome!
I trust that you will find this site interesting and informative, and that you will feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about the pipes or hiring a piper for any occasion. The pipes are always appropriate!
Thank you for visiting.
Bio
People
often ask me if I wanted to play the pipes because of my family background.
While it is true that I do have Scottish ancestors (my mother was a MacGruder
and my paternal grandmother was a Duff), I wanted to play the pipes simply
because I love the sound!
Growing up in the Dayton, Ohio, area, I attended college at Wright State University, where I received a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, both in Music Education. My principal instrument is piano, but only because they didn't have a bagpipe major! I also have a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science from Kent State University. After teaching school in Xenia, Ohio, for thirty years, I retired to accept a position as a librarian at Cedarville University.
I'm still active in music in the Dayton area. I'm the organist at my church, and my wife, Debbie, and I both sing in the Bach Society of Dayton. We also sang in Coventry Green, an eight-voice a cappella ensemble, from 1999 until the group disbanded early in 2005. We served on the Board of the Miami Valley Community Concerts Association from 2002 until 2005.
I first played the pipes when I was in my twenties, but stopped playing after a few years as I began work on my Master's degree. Early in 1994, I decided to play again, and literally had to start over! My first teacher, both times, was Dick Hersh. Since 1994, I have studied with Court Smith and David Daye, attended summer piping schools, where I have studied with Sandy Jones and Ed Neigh, and also had a few lessons from Alasdair Gillies and Iain Macey. I competed successfully several times as a soloist in 1998, and was advanced a grade for the 1999 season, but I stopped solo competition when I joined the Cyril-Scott Pipe Band that year. Presently, I do some of the teaching for the Miami Valley Pipes and Drums, which meets on Tuesday afternoon and evening. I've continued the tradition that my first teacher, Dick Hersh, passed down to me, by not charging for these lessons. If my schedule is too full, the Miami Valley Pipes and Drums has other people who also will teach.
I've played with several pipe bands for varying lengths of time, including the Dayton Thistle Pipe Band, the Cincinnati Caledonian Pipe Band, and Cyril-Scott. I am a member of the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association.