Winter Storm 2006 was recorded live on January 14, 2006 at the Christian Community Church in Kansas City, Missouri before a standing room only audience. John Cairns John Cairns has won almost every major soloist prize in North America, and in 1999 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. Most recently, he has won the Bratach Gorm in 2004. As an instructor, John holds the internationally recognized Institute of Piping's Senior Teacher's Certificate. During his seventeen years in the Canadian Forces, he taught over ten thousand students in the Cadet Pipes and Drums Training Program, and developed a curriculum now available to pipers everywhere. In 2000, John's composition "The Lament for the Unknown Soldier" was selected and performed during the dedication of Canada's National War Memorial. His work is prominently featured in the 78th Fraser's 2003 concert extravaganza "Seanchaidh". 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 also include the Senior Piobaireachd Competition at Oban, the Clasp at Inverness, the Bratach Gorm at London, and the March, Strathspey and Reel and Piobaireachd events at the Glenfiddich. Mike is Headmaster at St. Thomas Episcopal School in Houston, Texas, and led the band to four Juvenile World Championships, including 2004. Alasdair Gillies Former Pipe Major of the Queen's Own Highlanders, Alasdair is 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 in Scotland, the Braemar Gold Medal (twice), eleven Silver Stars, the Gold Medal at Oban, and in 2004, the Gold Medal at Inverness. Jack Lee Jack Lee is Pipe Sergeant of the four-time World Champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, of 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. Stuart Liddell Stuart Liddell's solo achievements include the Silver Medal at the 1992 Argyllshire Gathering, the Gold Medal at the 2000 Northern Meeting, and most recently, the Gold Medal at the 2004 Argyllshire Gathering. A former member of the Scottish Power Pipe Band for six years, he currently plays with the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, helping win their World Championships in 1999 and 2001. Willie McCallum Willie McCallum is one of the most accomplished competition pipers in the world. Winning nearly all of piping's biggest prizes more than once, he's most recently won the 2004 Silver Star (Former Winner's March, Strathspey and Reel) at Inverness, and the 2005 Glenfiddich. Featured on Lismor's "World's Greatest Pipers" volume 14, he has won a record eight 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 in which he won most of the major piobaireachd prizes more than once. Andrew is much in demand as a teacher of the classical music of the bagpipe. He has tutored and coached a large number of prominent players to win the major prizes and has conducted master classes and workshops all over Scotland, Ireland, the United States and Canada. Describing himself as a perpetual student of the music of piobaireachd, Andrew is currently President of the Piobaireachd Society. Scott Currie Scott joined Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band in 1989, under the leadership of Jim Kilpatrick. Scott won no fewer than thirty major drum corp championships, and a number of Best Bass Section awards as both tenor and bass drummer. His most prized achievement was competing in nine successive World Drum Corps Championship wins. After serving with Strathclyde Police Pipe Band, he rejoined House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band in 2004, helping the band win the 2005 World Championship and Best Drum Corps titles. Scott's services as as instructor have been in demand from bands and workshops around the United Kingdom and North America. In addition, Scott founded Tenordrummer.com - the world's only online bass and tenor drumming forum. Well established as a focal point for drummers internationally, the site promotes the art form throughout the pipe band world. John Fisher 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 Duthart. John was most recently Lead Drummer of the 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band, and performed for many years as a session drummer in Los Angeles and Canada. With over 25 years experience as a performer and educator, John has gained an international reputation as a master of technique. Tyler Fry Tyler Fry is considered by many to be the fastest and most musical stick flourisher in the world. Awarded every major professional solo championship title in North America by the age of 14, Tyler was a member of three World Champion mid-sections with the 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band, most recently in 2003. As a member of the House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band, he helped win the 2005 World Pipe Band Championship and Best Drum Corps titles. A member of the Pipers and Pipe Band Society of Ontario Music Board, Tyler travels extensively throughout Europe and the Americas performing master classes. His company, TyFry, produces a popular tenor drumstick, and an instructional CD-ROM. TyFry sponsors the Gold Medal Tenor Drumming Championship of the same name. Duncan Gibson For over thirty years, Duncan Gibson has drummed with great pipe bands such as City of Toronto, Caber Feigh, McNish Distillery, and the Clan MacFarlane, giving a wealth of experience, both performing and teaching. On numerous occasions he's won the Canadian, U.S. Open, and North American Championships, and in 2001 helped Niagara Regional Police win the Best Bass Section at the World Championships in Scotland. Currently playing Bass with the Toronto Police Pipe Band, Duncan was instrumental in their Best Bass Section wins at the 2005 Ontario, Canadian, U.S. and North American Championships. He has taught Bass and Tenor Clinics throughout Canada and the United States. Jim Kilpatrick, MBE At the age of 15, Jim joined the Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band and won the World Drum Corps Championship - the first of Jim's eighteen World Drum Corps titles, including a record-breaking eleven wins in a row. In 2005, Jim's Shotts & Dykehead corps won Best Drum Corps title, and the pipe band World Championship. Jim won the 2005 World Solo Drumming Championship, breaking his own record with sixteen crowns. He is regarded as the world's greatest exponent of Scottish-style snare drumming. Norman "Haggis" MacLeod Norman MacLeod joined the St. Andrews Boys Brigade pipe band at age 12, and has been performing the globe over ever since. He has contributed to many prize-winning bands and drum corps, including World Champion Best Bass Section of The Vale of Atholl, and was involved in the first tenor drumming workshop run in Scotland by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association. Haggis currently is lead tenor drummer with four-time World Champion Field-Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band of Belfast. J. Reid Maxwell When the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band captured "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 2004 World Pipe Band Championship, Reid gained his fourteenth World Championship. Barry Wilson Barry joined Jim Kilpatrick and his Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band at age 14, and would remain there sixteen years. While with Shotts, an amazing forty major drum championship titles were won, including twelve World Drum Corps Championships, and a "Grand Slam" of five titles in 1995. Barry has since joined the Scottish Power Pipe Band, and in his first year led the drum corps to the top six of the Champion of Champions table. Since his first appearance in 1987 at the World Solo Drumming Championships, Barry twice has been Juvenile World Champion, and now frequents the highest placings at the Adult Championships.