BY JOYCE McINTOSH
The Jimmy McIntosh Piobaireachd Scholarship Committee is pleased to announce that we have selected a deserving recipient for the 2026-2027 session. Aidan Chapman, from Windsor Mill, Maryland, was selected from a record number of applicants.
All the pipers who applied demonstrated a great deal of promise, and the committee’s decision was difficult. We are confident that Aidan will work hard and reap tremendous benefits from the piobaireachd instruction to be provided by our excellent panel of instructors in the coming months.
It was Jimmy’s wish that the scholarship recipient would be able to work closely with long time students of his who had been taught in the Balmoral tradition. Aidan’s piobaireachd instruction will begin in late May with an intensive piobaireachd weekend in Baltimore, taught by one of Jimmy’s most successful students, Mike Cusack.
Following this, instructors who are working closely with the scholarship committee will be chosen to work with Aidan for the remainder of 2026, into early 2027. Aidan’s scholarship experience will culminate with a piobaireachd workshop at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in February of 2027, at which he will give a recital to include tunes he has learned during the course of the instruction. Next year’s workshop will be ably taught by Mike Cusack, Nick Hudson and Andrew Carlisle. The Winter Workshop is open to all and is expertly organized by the Pittsburgh Piping Society, in conjunction with the Jimmy McIntosh Scholarship Committee. We are thankful for the opportunity to help bring Jimmy’s wishes to fruition.
We also extend our thanks to all who have contributed to the scholarship fund. Contributions are still being accepted at: pittsburghpipingsociety.org by clicking on the Donate tab. PayPal is also welcome. We exist solely on donations and grants received. We hope you might consider adding your support to help continue what is the most extensive piobaireachd scholarship available today in the USA.
We also thank Nancy Tunnicliffe, Amy Garson, Mike Cusack, Nick Hudson and Andrew Carlisle, for their willingness to provide instruction and support to our scholarship recipients. In addition, we are extremely thankful for the generous support of The Piobaireachd Society.