Virginia R. Smith

In the fall of 2001 I discovered my passion for bagpipes. I was in the midst of music studies and simply added the pipes to the variety of instruments and ensembles in my music history curriculum. Little did I know that less than a year later, the bagpipes would be my primary musical pursuit. Though I finished my music degree in 2004, the calling to pipe - as I believe it was a Divine interruption of my life - had changed everything. I had fully committed myself to mastering and teaching the art and using it for the Glory of God, since there is hardly a sound more glorious to me than the pipes!

I began competing in solo piping comeptitions in spring of 2003, a year-and-a-half after I began the practice chanter, and have continued since then to compete and improve my results. As of this writing I am competing in grade 2 solos with the Pipers and Pipe Band Society of Ontario. I have played with several bands, starting out with the Father of Waters Pipes and Drums of Jackson Mississippi in 2002. In 2004 I co-founded the Hub City Pipes and Drums in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and served as its bandmaster for two years. My main duties were education and instruction of beginning pipers, music arrangement, tuning the band and keeping records and legal paperwork up to date. I moved to Texas in December 2005, and currently I play with the Fort Worth Scottish Pipes and Drums.

competing in Chatham, Ontario Since my early days, being taught by a good friend who plays the pipes, I have learned from a variety of qualified instructors including Ken Eller, Sandy Jones, Ed Neigh, Jim McGillivray, and my current full-time instructor, John Cairns of Ontario, Canada. John's teaching method has both impressed and inspired me. I study with him long distance and have found my technical and musical abilites increase greatly since he took me on as a student in March 2005. His comprehensive teaching method has also prompted me to further my experience in music and piping education

Each summer I travel to London, Ontario to visit John Cairns and take intensive bagpipe lessons for a week. I also compete in local contests while I am up there, where I find the standard of play and the field of pipers to be quite challenging. I have also entered an instructor agreement with John to use his Bagpipe Solutions bagpipe method in my teaching program. I currenlty have about 20 students who play from the very beginner level to intermediate levels.

Education:

Bachelor of Music - University of Southern Mississippi - May 2004
North American Academy of Piping 2003, 2004 - piper of the week, 2005
Red River Pipes and Drums piping workshop, Shreveport, LA 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Winter Storm bagpipe workshop, Kansas City, MO 2007, 2008
Current Instructor since March 2005 - John Cairns - Ontario, Canada

Bands:

Father of Waters Pipes and Drums 2002 - 2003 Webmaster
Hub City Pipes and Drums 2004 - 2005 Bandmaster/founding member
Baton Rouge Pipes and Drums - competition roster 2005, 2006
Fort Worth Scottish Pipes and Drums 2008 -

Competition:

Pipers' and Pipe Band Society of Ontario - Amateur Grade 2