OSAS 2023 Instructors:
2022 Instructor Concert
Please Note: Instructors are subject to change based on enrollment
Highland Dance
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Eleanor Belton started dancing at the age of 5. She has studied many different disciplines such as Highland, Ballet, Tap and Jazz. In 1979, Eleanor immigrated to Ontario, Canada with her husband Michael.
Eleanor has actively been teaching highland dance for over 40 years and in 1995 became the owner and Artistic Director of Aspects of Dance in Burlington, Ontario. Aspects of Dance offers students the opportunity to train in Highland, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Musical Theatre and Acrobatics. Many of her competitive highland dancers have travelled throughout Canada, the United States, Australia, Europe and Scotland winning many awards and Championships. Some of her students have gone onto professional careers with professional ballet companies and cruise lines.
Eleanor is a member of the World-Wide Judges Panel for the Royal Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing. She is also a Fellow, Life Member and Examiner with the British Association Teachers of Dance. Eleanor has travelled throughout Canada, United States, Australia and Scotland, adjudicating and conducting highland and choreography Workshops.
One of her most enjoyable experiences as a highland teacher was as co-chair of the opening ceremonies for ScotDance Canada Championship Series in 2015 and 2017. She had the privilege of working with many talented dancers from across Ontario to create the choreography for these events.
Daniel Carr began dancing at the age of three with the Sheila Milne School of Dance in Owen Sound, Ontario. He received world class training in highland dance from Mrs. Milne as well as ballet, modern, jazz, tap and musical theatre from top instructors that came from all over the world. Some highlights of his highland dance career included winning major championships throughout Canada, US and Scotland including the Ontario, Canadian and World championships. Daniel teaches highland along with Leslie MacDougall in Cambridge, ON. Prior to the pandemic, he was very fortunate to teach workshops throughout North America and UK.
Aside from dancing, Daniel plays bagpipes and teaches local students in Collingwood, ON. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he focused his time on finishing up some educational goals and completed teachers college in Toronto. He is also a member of the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance and Alpine Canada and has taught/coached skiing for 15+ years in the Collingwood area.
He is thrilled to be asked to teach at OSAS after attending as a student in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Laura Donlan has been involved in Highland Dance since the age of 8. Her love of Highland Dance began with instruction by her mom, Anne Donlan and is currently instructed by Kathy Coleman and Ashley Stowkowy. Laura has competed throughout the world for the past 30 years, qualifying for the United States Inter Championship 25 years in a row. She has won championship titles throughout the United States and Canada.
Her passion and love for dancing does not stop with competing. She created Highland Wellness and Strength in 2016 after adding cross training to her training routine as well as recovering from multiple injuries. The goal is to share her knowledge of self care and the importance of cross training in a dancers life. Laura has conducted workshops throughout Canada, the United States, Scotland and Australia.
Laura also has her doctorate in physical therapy. She has fourteen years of experience working in outpatient orthopedic settings and has taken continuing education courses in taping, dance injuries and treating back pain. She enjoys working with patients of all ages to help them return to doing what they love.
Joy (Allen) Tolev started dancing at the age of 3 under the instruction of Mrs. Evelyn Murray in Toronto, Ontario. During her competitive days she successfully competed in many highland dance competitions and championships throughout Canada and the United States.
She has been teaching at her own school of highland dancing in Toronto for the past 30 years and has produced many dancers of high caliber who have captured titles in various championships including the Ontario, Canadian, Scottish, Commonwealth and World Championships. There have been over 25 Canadian Championship Titles, many Scottish and Commonwealth Championship titles and runner-ups, and a World Champion who holds 10 World Titles.
She is a Fellow and Examiner of the B.A.T.D., North American Co-ordinator of the B.A.T.D., and adjudicator on the S.O.B.H.D. Judges panel.
Joy teaches annually at the Ohio Scottish Arts School which is a week camp in June, the Delco Workshop in February and travels across Canada, United States, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand, judging, examining and conducting workshops.
Fiddle
U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion Elke Baker‘s distinctive, dance-driven fiddle style has made her one of the most sought-after Scottish fiddlers of our time. Performing solo and with Ken Kolodner, Robin Bullock, bands Terpsichore, Sugar Beat, and others, Elke has both a range and depth of skill surpassed by very few. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, the Birchmere, Honolulu Academy of Arts, in most of the fifty States, and on four continents. She is world-renowned as a Scottish country dance musician, bandleader, and arranger, and recently headlined the RSCDS International Branch Event in Italy. A scholar of Scottish music, Elke taught for many years at the Washington Conservatory of Music, as Artist-in-Residence at Montgomery College, and as a panelist at Harvard University. Elke directs the Potomac Valley Scottish Fiddle Club, a non-profit Scottish music educational organization now in its 30th year. She has recorded nine albums, including recent releases On a Cold Winter’s Day with Ken Kolodner and Wait ’til You Hear This One! with Sugar Beat, and a world-premiere single, The Fingerlock, an ancient fiddle pibroch. Elke’s new release Better Days features waltzes, tangos, and other couple dances from around the world played with four of her ensembles. www.elkebaker.com
Fiddle Class information
Harp
Corrina Hewat was brought up in the Black Isle in the Scottish Highlands. Growing up surrounded by music and song, art and stories in an expansive landscape helped to shape her musical narrative. She is a harper, singer and composer and celebrates ten years as Principal Scottish Harp Tutor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
She has recorded around 50 albums, 13 under her own or band name and composed many large-scale commissions for ensemble. Her most recent work is MD/co-producer of the Edinburgh Fringe sell-out show run of Moon Dragon which is a new pre-school children’s interactive stage show, with harp, song, characterful puppets, and a colorful story journey.
She is also one of the musicians compiling the 100 Women Composers in Trad tune-book, for release on Faber Music. Corrina also directs the Scots Folk 60-strong choir Sangstream. Her other focus is The Song of the Oak and the Ivy, a 10-harp, 6 player piece, commissioned jointly by the EIHF and The Clarsach Society, which is to be recorded for posterity in 2022.
Haley Hewitt is a New England-based harp player, educator, and multi-media artist. Steeped in music from North America, Scotland and Ireland, her music has a distinctly traditional flavor. With a Bachelor’s Degree from the Hartt School of Music in pedal harp performance and a Master’s Degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Scottish Traditional Music, she founded Celtic Harp departments at Quinnipiac University and the Neighborhood Music School. Passionate about new music, she has also worked closely with composers including Michael O’Sullivan, Ken Steen, Robert Carl, and Dan Lis, to produce new literature for the harp. Her harp playing has taken her to Carnegie Hall, Benaroya Hall, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and won her the New England Open Scottish Harp Competition in 2006 and the US National Scottish Harp Championship in 2013.
Allison Miller began her musical career at age three with Suzuki piano lessons under the tutelage of Carol Wunderle and although she continued to play piano for the next thirteen years, she picked up the harp at age fourteen and began to explore the traditional music scene. She was very positively influenced by years of attendance at the Ohio Scottish Arts School and, after completing an undergraduate degree in Biology, had the opportunity to pursue post-graduate studies in Clarsarch (Scottish small harp) and Scot’s Song at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. Allison taught with Comhaltas coinin Erin in Scotland, has taught both privately and publicly in America, and has appeared in concert in Scotland, Canada, and at multiple venues in the States. She and her sister, Sairey, often play as a duo, “The Hired Hands,’ and they have released two recordings together: Something, in the spring of 2009, and Somewhere, in the spring of 2022. Allison was awarded the title of National Scottish Harp Champion of America after winning the 2012 National Scottish Harp Competition. She has her Doctorate in Physical Therapy, is a Certified Therapeutic Harp Practitioner through IHTP, and has held the position of Treasurer for the Scottish Harp Society of America since 2009.
Perpetually surprised by what comes out of her mouth, Jen Narkevicius prefers to let her harp do the talking – sometimes. From the Washington DC area, where talk is cheap, she leverages wit to bridge the gaps between the two. Jen enjoys teaching and performing. She also is taken with traveling through Scotland with others, pairing the music with the places, people and events that inspired it. She is Co-Director of Harp Camp in SE Pennsylvania and is beyond delighted to be invited to OSAS. Currently Competition Committee Chair of the Scottish Harp Society of America, Jen is a credentialed SHSA judge. She has been privileged to play for “important people” and to be part of the Harpa tours, but she will be even more fortunate to share some tunes with you! She blogs weekly on topics that range from touring Scotland with a harp to staying healthy and fit as a musician, on to fulfilling your promise as a harper on http://www.jeniuscreations.com/blog/ and she especially enjoys writing about herself in the third person.
Harp Class information
Pipes
Barry Donaldson was a police officer by profession retiring in 2006 as Chief Inspector. He was a founder member of the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band, formed in 1975 winning 11 World Championships.
From the late 70s through to the early 90s, Barry was a highly successful solo piper winning many major light music competitions (premier graded by the Competing Pipers Association). In 1995, he was invited onto the solo piping judges panel and appointed senior light music adjudicator. He is a pipe band adjudicator with the RSPBA as well as being an examiner for the Piping and Drumming Qualifications Board.
Advancement within the police service unfortunately excluded further involvement with the band, however it allowed him to work with lower grade bands and he eventually found himself Pipe Majoring the following, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, North Lanarkshire and City of Edinburgh, all competing successfully in grades 4, 3 and 2, winning Championships at each level and gaining promotion.
During this period Barry was responsible for establishing a number of youth development initiatives which produced two highly successful juvenile pipe bands, namely North Lanarkshire Schools’ and City of Edinburgh Schools.
On retirement from the police, he was asked to support The College of Piping, Glasgow. Shortly thereafter Barry was appointed senior piping instructor and a member of the Board of Directors. He has taught piping locally and internationally and whilst he is no longer part of the College, teaching remains high on his agenda.
Craig Munro is the Master Craftsman and Director of Wallace Bagpipes. He started learning the chanter at the age of 8 through the Linwood Caledonia Pipe Band under tuition from Gordon Lawrie before joining the Renfrew District Association (latterly Paisley Pipe Band) at the age of 10 under Pipe Major Colin Johnstone where he won various RSPBA Major Championship titles in Novice Juvenile and Juvenile until joining the Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band Under Pipe Major Robert Mathieson at the age of 15. He has played at the top of grade 1 for 20 years with the last 10 years as a member of the St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band where he currently runs their Scottish branch of the bands pipe corp. As well as his commitment to St Laurence O’Toole, Craig is in demand as a guest player and mentor for bands worldwide where he has also won Championships in Europe, Australia, South Africa and North America.
He is in high demand worldwide for his teaching and adjudication services such as Europe, North America and South America. His Understand & Appreciate Your Bagpipes lecture which takes the audience on the journey of an African Blackwood seed through the plantation and harvesting process in Tanzania then a virtual tour of his factory is the highlight of any workshop! He is also an approved IPBA Adjudicator as well as an SQA Assessor for the National Piping Centre.
Out with the competing circuit, Craig is also a member of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers touring the world and performing to crowds as large as 60,000 at venues including the SECC Hydro and BT Murrayfield Stadium. As a keen golfer, his favourite Chilli Pipers gig is performing at the 2014 Ryder Cup in Gleneagles, Scotland. He was featured on the Disney Pixar “Brave” soundtrack as well as the DreamWorks “How To Train Your Dragon 2 & 3” soundtrack.
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. Palmer performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2017. In 2020 he began teaching bagpipes at OSAS. In 2022 he was the “Artistic Pipe Major” for the Cleveland International Tattoo in addition to re-kindling a high school bagpipe program in the Greater Pittsburgh Area.
Laureano Thomas-Sanchez (they/them) started piping at the age of 11 under Wayne Holscott, followed by Michael Crawley, Barry Conway, and Andrew Duncan. They have played with The 87th Cleveland Pipe Band (2011-2012), The Great Lakes Pipe Band (2012-2019) and the Alma College Pipe Band (2016-2021). They currently play with The St. Thomas Alumni Band. Over the past 13 years, Laureano has competed in solo events across the U.S., Canada, and in Scotland placing in at least top 3 in events for their grade in each association, including the North American Championships and several invitational contests such as the Nicol-Brown Amateur Invitational. They have been piper of the day four times at the Ligonier Highland Games and twice at the Ohio Scottish Games, among others. They also currently play with Celtic Fusion band, Tartanic. Laureano grew up in the Cleveland, OH area and attended Alma College, where they studied Music Performance. Ohio Scottish Arts School has been part of their journey from the start, attending as a student from 2011 until 2016, then becoming an instructor in 2017.
Bob Worrall is one of North America’s leading teachers, adjudicators and performers. Bob is a respected composer, having published three successful collections of bagpipe music. He is featured on three solo piping recordings and was a member of the folk group “Scantily Plaid”.
After a piping career with a number of Ontario’s leading pipe bands, including the City of Toronto Pipe Band and the General Motors Pipe Band, Bob retired from competitive piping in 1983. His solo accomplishments were extensive, both in North America and Scotland. He won the North American Professional Championship an unprecedented 7 times and the Ontario Professional Championship Supreme title for 12 of his 13 years in the professional class. He was also the 1977 winner of the March and Strathspey/Reel events in Inverness. He was a pupil of Bill Millar, Willie Connell and the late John Wilson.
A member of North American and the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s judging panels, Bob has been selected to judge the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow on sixteen occasions. For the last fifteen years he has been the colour commentator for the BBC’s broadcast of the World Pipe Band Championships. He is a member of the Piobaireachd Society’s Senior Judges list and has adjudicated major competitions throughout the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Brittany and South Africa. Bob’s recent overseas piping ventures have included teaching and performing engagements in Zimbabwe, Australia and Italy. His M.C. skills have been called upon by the Field Marshal Montgomery, Scottish Power, Inveraray and District, Toronto Police Pipe Bands, and most recently, the annual Winter Storm concert.
Bob was the senior instructor at the Gaelic College in Cape Breton for 15 years. He is the Director of Summer Blast, the PPBSO’s virtual summer school.. Other recent piping camps have included Kingston (Ontario), the Ohio Scottish Arts School, Lake Diefenbaker (Saskatchewan), Washington State and Oregon, Vancouver Island, Uruguay, Australia and South Africa. Weekend workshops, adjudicating and recitals provide him with a schedule that has taken him to virtually all of the Canadian provinces and 36 U.S. States.
Pipe Class information
Snare Drum and Tenor/Bass Drum
Snare Drum: Grant Maxwell is the lead drummer of the Vale United Pipe Band in Penticton, BC. He previously played with the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, winning 2 World Pipe Band Championships and 3 World Drum Corps Championships. Grant is a successful solo competitor and competes regularly locally, internationally and online. He is the current World Online Drumming Champion, winning the grand aggregate award for 2022.
Tenor/Bass Drum: Owen Russell is excited to return to OSAS as an instructor. He first attended OSAS as a student in 2003. Owen is a tenor drummer in the renowned Simon Fraser University Pipe Band from Vancouver, British Columbia. At the 2022 World Pipe Band Championships, Owen and the SFUPB received the Best Drum Corps Award. He loves teaching students of all ages and abilities and looks forward to teaching this summer!