4th fair hill workshop

Announcing the first annual Fair Hill Workshop!

A fun weekend of piping and drumming instruction plus a casual Saturday evening ceilidh

LOCATION

To Be Determined – Original venue is temporarily closed and will not re-open in time for the workshop New venue will be posted once it is set

INSTRUCTORS

Workshop instructors will include:

Cameron Macdougall – Piping

Cameron, who hails from the Highlands of Scotland, studied under some of the country’s most eminent pipers, graduating with a music degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He is a silver medalist and plays in the Former Winners MSR at the Argyllshire Gathering, after winning the A grade in 2022. Cameron’s recent wins include the Medley at the Metro cup and the MSR at the USPF contest. Cameron recently moved to New Jersey, USA.

Derek Midgley – Piping

Derek hails from Tinton Falls, New Jersey and began piping at the age of 12. His first tutor was George Bell, formerly of Parlin, NJ who was instrumental in Derek’s early education. After his passing, Derek is fortunate to receive instruction from Roddy MacLeod, MBE.

Derek’s notable solo prizes include the Silver Medal and B Marches at the Northern Meeting, and multiple placings in the Highland Society of London’s Gold Medal and A Grade Light Music at both Oban and Inverness. He has won the the A Grade MSR, Hornpipe/Jig, and Piobaireachd at the Scottish Piping Society of London Competition, the Dunvegan Medal, the Col Jock MacDonald Clasp and Open 2/4 and 6/8 Marches at Skye, the Lochaber Axe for Senior Piobaireachd at Fort William, and won the light music at the Royal Highland Gathering at Braemar. In Canada, Derek was the third person ever to win the “Double Gold” Gold Medal and Bar to the Gold Medal of Canada on the same day. In the USA, he has won the Metro Cup Piobaireachd, the United States Piping Foundation Piobaireachd four times, and the USPF Overall in 2022. Most recently, Derek won the P/M Ian Swinton Open in 2023 and 2024.

Derek also has many years of domestic and international Grade 1 Pipe Band experience, having played with the City of Washington Pipe Band, Toronto Police Pipe Band, the Scottish Power Pipe Band, and is currently a member of the St. Thomas Alumni Pipe Band.

Derek became a piping adjudicator for the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association in 2016 and a member of the EUSPBA Music Board in 2017. He is also the EUSPBA Metro Branch Chairman. After serving for many years on the Competing Pipers Association Committee, Derek was elected President of the CPA in 2020 and works to facilitate solo professional piping in Scotland and abroad.

Sam Johnson – Tenor Drumming

Sam, from Baltimore MD, has over 20 years of experience in pipe bands in Snare, Bass, and Tenor. For the past few years, he traveled all the way from Baltimore to play with the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band in Vancouver. BC, Canada. Sam got his start on snare with the Guilford and Glencoe District Juvenile Pipe Band in Baltimore Maryland, and quickly transitioned to the City of Washington Pipe band in 2005. Since then, Sam studied Tenor and Bass under Dina Alexander, Margaret Rodgers and Mike Cole, however, he is mostly self taught as a tenor drummer. He was the Midsection leader for the MacMillan grade 2 pipe band from 2015-2019, during which time he won back to back East Coast champion and back to back Gold Medals in the Winter Storm Gold Medal Tenor competition in 2019 and 2020. During his time with SFU, Sam has also been a part of the back to back World Champion Drum Corps, winning the Medley cup in 2022, and the MSR Cup in 2023. Additionally, he writes music for Tenor, Bass, and Snare as well as competitive high school marching bands. Sam is a Spanish teacher by day and is also a tenor and bass judge for the EUSPBA.

Mike Cole – Bass Drumming

Mike Cole, originally from Chicago, now residing in Annapolis, Maryland began his pipe band career in 1987 as a Grade Three snare drummer. Mike has experience as a leading drummer, and in 1993 he played rhythm tenor with the 78th Fraser Highlanders. Mike started playing the bass drum in the mid-1990’s with the Grade Two band, Midlothian Scottish. In 1998, he won the Best Bass Title in Grade Two at the World Pipe Band Championships. His bass sections have won the Grade One and Grade Two North American titles in Maxville, Ontario multiple times. In 2007 and 2012, Mike won the Mid-West Highland Arts Gold Medal in the professional bass drumming competition at Winter Storm in Kansas City. In 2010, Mike guested as the bass drummer for the Grade One Inveraray and District Pipe Band, living in Scotland that summer and playing all the major contests with them. In 2012 Mike was the bass drummer on the “Pipes and Sticks on Route 66” tour with Jim Kilpatrick, Stuart Liddell, Angus MacColl, and Willie McCallum. Mike was most recently the bass drummer for the Grade Two MacMillan band, where he enjoyed playing with his stepson and his grandson, both drummers in the band. He retired from the band at the end of the 2023 season. A retired professional mathematics’ educator, Mike has instructed at workshops, seminars, and summer camps in the US, Canada, and Scotland. He serves as a bass and tenor drumming adjudicator for EUSPBA and the PPBSO.

Derek Cooper – Snare Drumming

Derek Cooper is the lead drummer and drumming instructor of Ulster Scottish Pipe Band. In recent years, Ulster has risen to the top of Grade 2, in 2024 winning the North American Championships at Maxville, Ontario, and placing 6th at the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. In addition to playing in Ulster, Derek played with Oran Mor (2005-2006), SFU (2007-2013), and Inveraray & District (2015-2022). Over those years, Derek has had the pleasure of winning multiple World Pipe Band Championships and World Championship Drum Corps titles. Some highlights of Derek’s solo accomplishments include: North American Champion, EUSPBA Champion, winner of the North American Gold Medal for Drumming at Winter Storm multiple times, and the first American drummer to compete in the Finals of the World Solo Drumming Championships in Glasgow.

REGISTRATION

Registration Fee $200 – includes classes all day Saturday and half day Sunday, plus lunch Saturday Deadline for on-time registration – December 31, 2024 Late registrations will be accepted after the deadline, space permitting, but will include an additional $20 late fee All workshop proceeds will benefit the Fair Hill Scottish Games