Barry Conway has studied under Doug Ross, Ken Eller, Sandy Keith, Noel Slagle, and Bob Worrall, and had his Piobaireachd training from Jim McIntosh. He is a successful solo player having won the Ohio Scottish Games Piper of Day 3 times and won or placed at virtually every major contest in Ontario, Midwest and East including North American Championships in Maxville. Barry finished his solo career at Open level.
He is the current Pipe Major of Great Lakes Pipe Band and a former member of Windsor Police Pipe Band Gr. 1 and City of Washington Gr. 1 Pipe Band, 87th Cleveland Gr. 2 Pipe Band, and Western Reserve Gr. 2 Pipe Band. He began his career playing with The Caledonian Pipe Band, Cleveland, OH and he is founding member and former Pipe Sergeant and Pipe Major of North Coast Pipe Band.
He has produced or co-produced four recordings in career. Pipes UP, New Crossroads and “Dirty Laugh” while with North Coast Pipe Band and Generations while a member of 87th Cleveland Pipe Band.
Barry has been a bagpipe instructor in the Cleveland, Ohio area for many years and has taught at the Ohio Scottish Arts School since 2008. He is an adjudicator on both the EUSPBA and MWPBA panels.
Andrew Duncan began piping at age ten. His first teacher was his mother, Ann Marie Duncan. He has studied with John Cairns for over 18 years. Drew won the P&PBSO’s Champion Supreme award for Grades II and I light music. Drew has won several professional prizes in North America including the 2004 Winnipeg Knockout Championship and the 2005 John Ure Anderson Memorial Gold Medal for Piobaireachd at Ligonier. He began competing with Grade I bands at age 15. Andrew was a member of the highly successful Windsor Police Pipe Band Organization. As a nine year member of the Windsor Police Organization he was; a member of the Grades One and Two bands, pipe major of the Grade Three band, and the primary instructor and organizer for the piping school. Andrew is currently a member of the Peel Police Pipe Band. Andrew also teaches piping at Alma College. Andrew is a past president of the Windsor-Detroit Branch of the Piper’s and Pipe Band Society of Ontario. Andrew is the Director of Piping at Alma College and the Co-Director of Alma College’s Highland Arts Program. He and his wife Jodie own and operate Duncans Highland Supply and reside in Royal Oak, Michigan.
Ben Elliot grew up in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan and began piping with his local pipe band Midland Highlanders at age 8. In 2012, Ben began taking lessons from Andrew Duncan who has been his primary instructor since. He currently plays with the Alma College Pipe Band as well as the Great Lakes Pipe Band. Ben has successfully competed in solos across the United States and Ontario, and most recently the Toronto Knockout which he placed among the top amateur pipers in Ontario and the Midwest. Ben will have graduated from Alma College in April of 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Craig Munro is the Master Craftsman and Production Director of Wallace Bagpipes, Glasgow, Scotland. He is also an instructor for The College of Piping and The National Piping Centre, teaching at their workshops all over the world.
Craig has played in Grade 1 now for a total of 12 years after joining Shotts & Dykehead at the age of 15. He has since played with Dysart & Dundonald, The Clan Gregor Society and was Pipe Major of Clydebank Pipe Band coming runners up in the Grade 3A Scottish, European, Cowal and World Pipe Band Championships in 2008 who were promoted to Grade 2 after his first year in charge. He then returned to play with the House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band, which would turn out to be Robert Mathieson’s final year as Pipe Major of the band. Craig says “Standing beside Robert on his farewell performance as Pipe Major will always be one of the highlights of my piping career”. He now plays with the 2010 World Pipe Band Champions, St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band and is also a member of the world famous Red Hot Chilli Pipers.
Craig travels in demand all over the world entertaining audiences and leaving them amazed at how much goes into a set of bagpipes behind the scenes with his “Understand & Appreciate Your Bagpipes” lecture that takes you on a journey back to the first African Blackwood seeds being planted in Tanzania, through to the harvesting and manufacturing stage.
Some of Craig’s notable performances out with the competition circuit have been playing on the BBC Hogmanay Live Show, performing as the finale piper at T in the Park to a crowd of 50,000 and recording soundtracks for the new Disney Pixar movie “Brave”.
Palmer Shonk 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.
Laureano Thomas-Sanchez started piping at the age of 11 under Wayne Holscott, followed by Michael Crawley, and is currently under the instruction of Barry Conway and Andrew Duncan. He first played with The 87th Cleveland Pipe Band and currently plays with The Great Lake Pipe Band and the Alma College Pipe Band. Over the past 7 years, Laureano has competed in solo events across the states and into Canada placing in at least top 3 in events for his grade in each association, including the North American Championships and several invitational contests such as the Nicol-Brown Amateur Invitational. He has been piper of the day four times at the Ligonier Highland Games and twice at the Ohio Scottish Games, among others. Laureano grew up in the Cleveland area and currently attends Alma College in Michigan where he is studying Music Education with a concentration on Bagpipes.