Chris is a Captain for Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and the Pipe Major for JFRD Pipes and Drums and has been piping since 2012. He is also the Section Chair for Honor Guard and Pipes and Drums for the Florida Fire Chiefs Association. Chris took on the academy on 2019 and has been focused on its success since then. 

Principal Instructor Robert Wallace had great success as a solo competitor including winning the Gold Medals at Oban and Inverness, the Former Winners MSR at Oban, the Clasp at the Northern Meeting and a notable double in 1989 when he won both the Bratach Gorm (Blue Banner) and Gillies Cup in London. Another notable double came in 1997 when he won the Dunvegan Medal and Clasp on the same day at the Skye Gathering. As a band player he competed with the illustrious Muirhead & Sons under Pipe Major Robert Hardie. For 15 years he was the Editor of the Piping Times magazine and Principal of the College of Piping. Robert is currently editor of Piping Press web magazine and President of the Piobaireachd Society. He has produced many books including the Glasgow Collection of Bagpipe Music, Bagpipe Tutors Volumes 1 – 3, and The Bagpiper’s Handbook.

Barry is a retired police officer and founder member and of the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band formed in 1975. He won 11 Grade 1 World Pipe Band Championships with them, all under the renowned leadership of P/M Ian McLellan. Later, as Pipe Major, he successfully led the Strathclyde Fire Brigade PB, North Lanarkshire PB and City of Edinburgh PB, each winning Championships in Grades 2, 3 and 4. On retirement from the police in 2006, Barry returned to Grade 1 and performed with Shotts and Dykehead PB and became a senior instructor at the College of Piping. From the late 1970s to the early 90s he had successfully competed as a solo piper winning many major awards leading to a Premier grading by the Competing Pipers Association. Barry is a Senior Piping Adjudicator with the Solo Piping Judges Association and a pipe band adjudicator with the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association.

Matt comes from St. Louis, Missouri, where he teaches piping and is on the Midwest Pipe Band Association's judging panel.  He has been competing in Scotland for many years.  He recently won the Silver Medal at the 2023 Northern Meeting.  He won the Braemar Gold Medal for piobaireachd in 2019 and has featured in the prize list at Braemar and the Dunvegan Medal on Skye several times.  He has been an avid supporter of the Highland Games circuit in Scotland for many years.  Matt serves as president of the Scottish St. Andrew Society of Greater St. Louis and on the board for the St. Louis Scottish Games.

Bill Caudill, founder of the Scottish Heritage Center and pipe major at St. Andrews University, is one of the few Southern-born bagpipers of the 20th century to reach the professional level of playing and competition. Caudill has won the award for best Carolinas piper at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games on 28 occasions. Caudill serves president of the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association and is an adjudicator of bagpipe competitions throughout the country.

Stephen Creighton is the lead drummer of the St. Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band from Dublin, Ireland. As a solo drummer, his honors include the 1989 World Junior Champion title, 31 World Solo Finals appearances, 8 Senior All Ireland Drumming Championships, 8 Ulster Senior Solo Championships, and the 2023 United Kingdom Senior Champion title. With his drum corps, Stephen has led the band to World Grade 1 Drumming titles in 2006, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2024, and most recently in 2026. Stephen has accumulated 29 major titles across European, Scottish, British, and UK competitions. Locally, his drum corps has won 15 Grade 1 All Ireland Drumming titles—and counting. Stephen currently serves as the Marching Specialist at Premier Music International Ltd. in the UK. He is married to Amanda and has four children: Stephen Junior, Keith, Glen, and Hannah, as well as two grandchildren, Noah and Éabha.

Hannah Skinner started her pipe band career with the Grandfather Mountain Highlanders in 2009. She has been competing at a professional level in both bass and tenor since 2013.  Hannah has written scores and provided instruction for bands throughout the southern United States. During this time, she played snare in a WGI independent line and West Lincoln High School. She graduated from Methodist University in 2018 with music degrees in Percussion Performance and Music Education. While in school, she joined the Grade 2 City of Dunedin Pipe Band, winning the 2018 World Pipe Band Championship. The following year, she competed with the City of Dunedin Grade 1 band winning the North American championships. She teaches annually at the North American Academy of Piping and Drumming in North Carolina and is an Executive Board Member for the United States Rudimental Drumming Association. Hannah is the Lead Drummer for the Virginia International Tattoo where her instruction reaches bands across the world. 

Hannah lives at Fort Irwin, CA and applies her Masters in Leadership in Education to her foundational instruction of the Scottish Arts with Drumming in the Grey. She has a private studio of over sixty students and is the tenor and bass drumming instructor for Dojo U. 

Duane F. King is the owner and founder of Elite Drum Major, LLC, a company dedicated to teaching diverse styles of drum majoring, while developing the leadership, discipline, and professionalism inherent in the role. With over 27 years of experience as a drum major and leader at various levels, he is passionate about combining these two worlds. Having led and performed in thousands of events across the U.S. as both a musician and drum major, the experiences that Duane offers are seldom matched. He has performed for five Presidents of the United States and numerous other world leaders, including Pope Francis, the Prime Ministers of India, Australia, and Singapore, various foreign ministers and secretaries of defense agencies, and more than a dozen Medal of Honor recipients. He has taught clinics interannually, at numerous high schools and universities throughout the United States, and has led bands in front of millions of people during the 2017 Inauguration Parade and numerous Mardi Gras parades in and around the greater New Orleans area. With over 30 years of service in the United States Marine Corps, Duane retired in 2025 as the 40th Drum Major and Senior Enlisted Advisor for “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in Washington, DC, where he regularly led bands at the White House, Marine Barracks Washington, DC, and throughout the National Capital Region. Duane currently serves as the Drum Major for the City of St. Augustine Pipe Band in St. Augustine, Florida. In this role, he has expanded his experience into the Scottish pipe band tradition and has competed in Drum Major competitions across the United States. Having been introduced to drum majoring at a young age through the military, Duane developed a passion that endures to this day, and he is now dedicated to passing on his knowledge and inspiring the next generation. Duane received his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from American Military University and is currently working on his second book, which explores the history and evolution on of drum majoring in America. As a leading expert in the American military and regimental-styles of drum majoring, Duane provides individual instruction, group lessons, camps, clinics, and masterclasses designed to enhance the skills, confidence, leadership, and professional presence of drum majors and aspiring drum majors at all levels. Duane resides in St. Augustine, Florida, and is available for instruction and educational opportunities throughout the United States and internationally.

Jon was one of only a few southern-born pipers in the 20th century to reach Grade. He won numerous EUSPBA contests in the '70s and '80s in light music and piobaireachd. Jon was the overall EUSPBA Grade 2 Champion in 1979 and in Grade 1 the following year and runner-up several years after. Highlights include the MacCrimmon Quaich at Virginia, the Grandfather Mountain G1 Piobaireachd (five times, consecutively), and Best Grade 1 Piper at Stone Mountain. He served as an instructor at the North American Academy of Piping and Drumming with the late Sandy Jones and Ed Neigh. Jon currently teaches several competitors including two top G1 competitors. He is a retired public-school teacher and works now as an insurance office manager in East Tennessee.