Winter Storm III was recorded live on January 17, 2004 at the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Christian Community Church in Kansas City, Missouri. This third annual concert includes performances by both the US Silver Medal and US Gold Medal Piping Champions. John Cairns In 1999, John Cairns achieved the rarest of feats, becoming the 11th person in the history of piping to win "The Double": both Highland Society of London Gold Medals for solo piping, at Oban and Inverness, in the same year. Before joining the 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band, John was Pipe Major of the St. Thomas Police Grade 1 Pipe Band. A teacher, John holds the internationally recognized Institute of Piping's Senior Teacher's Certificate; a composer his work is prominently featured in the 78th Fraser's concert extravaganza "Seanchaidh". John owns Bagpipe Solutions, a piping educational and consulting business. Jori Chisholm The first United States Gold Medal Piobaireachd Competition was won by Jori Chisholm of Seattle. A member of the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, Jori played with SFU when they won the 2001 World Pipe Band Championships. He has been runner-up in the 2001 Silver Medal Contest at the Northern Meeting, and placed at the 2003 Gold Medal Competition at Inverness. Mike Cusack Mike is an eleven-time winner of the U.S. piping Foundation Championship, most recently in 2003. The first American to have won the Gold Medal at Oban and Inverness, his awards lso include the Senior Piobaireachd Competition at Oban (2003 Champion), the Clasp at Inverness, the Bratach Gorm at London, and the March, Strathspey and Reel and Piobaireachd events at the Glenfiddich Championship. Mike teaches piping at St. Thomas Episcopal School in Houston, Texas, and led the band to the 2003 Grade III North American Championship, and previously, three World Juvenile Championships. John Fisher John is Lead Drummer of the 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band. A former North American Drumming Champion, John was a member of the World Champion Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band drum corps under the leadership of Alex Duthurt. He was a faculty member of the Percussion Institute of Technology at the Musician's Institute in Los Angeles, and performed for many years as a session drummer in Los Angeles and Canada. With over 25 years experience as a drummer, performer, and educator, John deserves his international reputation as a master of technique. Tyler Fry Awarded every major professional solo championship title in North America by the age of 14, Tyler Fry has been a member of the World Champion Mid-Sections with the 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band. Tyler has recently joined the current World Champion House of Edgar - Shotts & Dykhead Pipe Band. He is considered by many to be the fastest and most musical stick flourisher in the world. A certified tenor drumming judge and member of the Pipers and Pipe Band Association of Ontario Music Board, Tyler travels extensively throughout Europe and the Americas performing master classes. His company TyFry produces a tenor stick line popular in North America and the world. Duncan Gibson Currently bass drummer for the Peel Regional Police Pipe Band, Duncan Gibson was bass for Niagara Regional Police Pipe Band in 2001, winning the Grade 2 Best Bass Section award at the World Pipe Band Championships. Duncan has played in other Grade 1 Bands in Ontario, including Metro Toronto Police Pipe Band in the early 1990s. Alasdair Gillies Former Pipe Major of the Queen's Own Highlanders, Alasdair Gillies is the Pipe Major of the Carnegie-Mellon University Pipes and Drums, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Featured on Lismor Recordings' "World's Greatest Pipers" volume 12, he has won numerous Glenfiddich Championships, the Braemar Gold Medal (twice), and the Gold Medal at Oban. In 2003, Alasdair won his eleventh Silver Star (Former Winner's March, Strathspey and Reel) at Inverness. Jim Kilpatrick, MBE Jim Kilpatrick is Lead Drummer for the current World Champion House of Edgar - Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band. At the age of 15, Jim joined Shotts & Dykehead and won the World Drum Corps Championship -the first of Jim's 17 World Drum Corps titles, including a record-breaking 11 wins in a row. Last year, his Shotts & Dykehead corps won a World Championship Drum Corps title, the pipe band captured the World Championship, and Jim won the World Solo Drumming Championship, breaking his own record with 14 crowns. In December, 2003 Jim was the first pipe band drummer awarded Member of the British Empire in Queen Elizabeth II's New Year's Honours "for services to music". Jack Lee Jack Lee is Pipe Sergeant of the four-time World Champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Featured on Lismor's "World's Greatest Pipers" volume 15, he has won the Gold Medal and Clasp at Inverness, and the Gold Medal and Senior Piobaireachd at Oban, as well as the Bratach Gorm in London. Jack won the 2003 Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championship. Norman "Haggis" MacLeod Norman MacLeod has contributed to many prize-winning bands and drum corps, including the World Champion Best Bass Section of The Vale of Atholl. He recently joined the current World Champion House of Edgar - Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band. At home in Scotland, he teaches tenor at Fettes College and Merchiston Castle School, and helped organize the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association's first tenor drumming workshop run in Scotland. Regarded as one of the foremost exponents of tenor drum flourishing in the world, "Haggis" enjoys international demand as an instructor. Neil Macpheson The 2004 United States Silver Medal Piobaireachd Competition was won by Neil Macpherson of Coquitlam, British Columbia. A member of the Grade 2 Maple Ridge Pipe Band, Neil played with the Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band when they won the 1999 Juvenile World Championship. He competed successfully in the 2003 George Sherriff Memorial Invitational. J. Reid Maxwell J. Reid Maxwell is Lead Drummer of the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band. When SFUPB won "the Worlds" in 1995, Reid made history as the first leader of drum corps of two different pipe band World Champions (his other the 78th Fraser Highlanders in 1987). All this was preceded by two World Pipe Band Championships and four World Drum Corps titles as a teenaged member of Scotland's Dysart and Dundonald Pipe Band! With SFU's capture of the 2001 World Pipe Band Championship, Reid gained his 13th World Championship. He continues as one of the world's greatest snare drummers and is perennially a top performer at the World Solo Drumming Championships. Williw McCallum Willie is one of the the most accomplished competitive pipers in the wold. Winning nearly all of piping's biggest prizes more than once, he has most recently won "Champion Piper of the Day" at the 2003 Scottish Piping Society of London Competition. Featured on Lismor's "World's Greatest Pipers" volume 14, he has won a record six Glenfiddich Championships. Andrew Wright Andrew Wright achieved the rarest of feats in 1970, becoming the 10th person in the history of piping to win "The Double": both Highland Society of London Gold Medals for solo piping, at Oban and Inverness, in the same year. Now retired from the competition platform following a successful career (winning most of the major piobaireachd prizes more than once), Andrew is much in demand as a teacher of the classical music of the pipes. He is President of the Piobaireachd Society.