Forty-two piobaireachd enthusiasts from across North America flocked to Pittsburgh this past weekend for the fourth annual Jimmy McIntosh MBE Piobaireachd Workshop at Carnegie Mellon University’s Cohon University Center. The action-packed weekend was organized by the Pittsburgh Piping Society, a non-profit organization established in 2014 by Andrew Carlisle, Nick Hudson and Palmer Shonk.
Instructors for the workshop were all longtime students of the late Jimmy McIntosh, MBE: Northern Meeting Clasp winners Mike Cusack and Nick Hudson (both travelling from Houston, Texas) and Andrew Carlisle (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). The students were divided into three classes by ability.
The weekend started on Friday evening with over 200 people packed into the popular Pittsburgh restaurant/bar The Pitch on Butler to witness around 30 pipers playing in a fun and supportive environment. After the registered students and local pipers performed, we had a few entertaining sets from special guests and piobaireachd enthusiasts E.J. Jones (pipes) and Frances Cunningham (bouzouki) playing some traditional music, before instructors Carlisle, Hudson and Cusack closed the evening with short recitals. Gold Medalist Mike Cusack finished the night with a terrific full rendition of Earl of Seaforth’s Salute on a wonderful sounding bagpipe, particularly on High G!
On Saturday and Sunday, each student had the opportunity to perform a piobaireachd on the bagpipe for some live feedback from an instructor. Many students remarked that they learned just as much from other people’s feedback as they did from comments about their own performances. There was a high level of playing during the weekend, especially in the top class where the 17 participants included many Open level pipers and even four judges. This was in keeping with Jimmy’s philosophy that with piobaireachd, you are never finished learning. To give an idea of the caliber of piobaireachd performed, a list of the tunes performed by students in the top class can be seen below:
Piobaireachd performed by the top class
- Beloved Scotland
- The Bicker
- Craigellachie
- The Daughter’s Lament
- The Finger Lock
- The King’s Taxes
- Lament for Captain MacDougall
- Lament for MacSwan of Roaig
- Lament for the Children
- Lament for the Viscount of Dundee
- Lachlan MacNeill Campbell of Kintarbert’s Fancy
- Lord Lovat’s Lament
- The MacDougall’s Gathering
- Park Piobaireachd No.2
- Port Urlar
- The Rout of Glenfruin
- Scarce of Fishing
In addition to the Masterclass format, the participants were also introduced to new tunes on the practice chanter in the more familiar classroom setting.
The weekend also saw the completion of this year’s Jimmy McIntosh MBE Piobaireachd Scholarship program where our deserving recipient was provided with tuition for eight months from Mike Cusack, Houston via video conferencing. On Saturday afternoon the workshop closed with this year’s scholarship winner, Peter Lui (Nashville, Tennessee) performing a recital of two piobaireachd that he had studied with Cusack, Earl of Seaforth’s Salute and The Groat. It was clear that Peter had worked very hard over the last eight months under Mike’s tutelage.
After eight hours of piobaireachd study on Saturday, students weren’t quite finished with piping and attended a ceilidh at Goodlander Cocktail Bar, where Pittsburgh Piping Society board member Palmer Shonk showed off his mixology and bartending skills while the attendees took it in turns to entertain with some light music tunes – of particular note, three of the pipers also played Irish uilleann pipes at the ceilidh – Skip Cleavinger, George Smith and Conor Freeland. Inveraray and District piper and Carnegie Mellon student Connor Eckert then entertained with some of his own compositions.
Sunday saw the completion of classes – another three hours of study. The students remarked how much they learned throughout the weekend and the instructors all praised the high level of playing and eagerness to learn from the students.
Applications are already being received for the 2026-27 cycle of the Jimmy McIntosh MBE Scholarship, and the March 1st deadline for submission is fast approaching. North American piobaireachd players can contact jimmy.mc.scholarship@gmail.com for more information. The fifth edition of the workshop is scheduled for February, 19-21, 2027.
The Pittsburgh Piping Society is deeply grateful for the kind donations received from individuals, and from The Piobaireachd Society. These donations help keep Jimmy’s legacy alive for future generations of piobaireachd students.