Our tutor line-up will be announced in stages in the lead-up to the retreat.
The Winter Piping and Drumming Retreat brings together experienced performers and educators from across Australia and beyond, offering participants the opportunity to learn from a diverse range of perspectives and disciplines.
Alisdair, from Perth, Western Australia, began piping at 13 while attending Trinity College, Perth, where he was taught by June Corcoran, John MacMurchie, and Malcolm Brown. In 1996, his final year of high school, he was appointed Pipe Major of the Trinity College Pipes & Drums, leading the band to multiple juvenile championships. That same year, he was also a member of the Grade 3 Armadale City Pipe Band when they won the Australian & South Pacific Pipe Band Championships.
In 1997, Alisdair joined the Western Australia Police Pipe Band (WAPOL), playing a key role in its success, including winning the 1998 Grade 2 World Championships, the 2001 Grade 1 American Championships, and achieving 10th place at the 2004 Grade 1 World Championships as Pipe Sergeant.
In 2005, while still based in Perth, Alisdair became the first fly-in guest player for the renowned Strathclyde Police Pipe Band, 12-time winners of the World Pipe Band Championships. In 2006, he was appointed Pipe Major of WAPOL before relocating to Glasgow in 2007.
In 2008, he joined Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band (FMM), where over nine years, he won 38 major championships, including five World Titles. He was part of the band’s historic Grand Slam victories in 2011 and 2013, winning all five major championships in a single season—an achievement only accomplished four times in pipe band history.
In 2018, Alisdair was appointed Pipe Sergeant of the Glasgow Police Pipe Band (formerly Strathclyde Police) and was promoted to Pipe Major at the end of the 2019 season. He held this position until returning to Perth in 2020.
Beyond competition, Alisdair was Director of The National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland for over a decade, shaping the next generation of pipers and drummers. Under his leadership, the band performed 18 major concerts across Scotland, toured internationally in China, Switzerland, Germany, and Spain, and played by royal invitation at Buckingham Palace for Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family. He also initiated outreach workshops across Scotland to support grassroots piping and drumming development.
As an instructor at The National Piping Centre, Alisdair taught at seasonal schools and international programs in the USA, Germany, and Switzerland. He also contributed to the HNC teaching team, developing the Live Performance curriculum.
As an adjudicator, he has judged competitions such as the Glasgow Highland Club, Boys’ Brigade Contests, Inveraray Highland Games, CLASP and Army School of Piping events.
Alisdair is currently the Pipe Major of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Pipes & Drums, leading the band in performances at the Tattoo from 2017–present. In 2017, he was honoured to be one of the lone pipers for the event. Additionally, for the past three years, he has been a soloist in the featured “Electro Pipes” performance. Internationally, he has led the REMT Pipes & Drums at major festivals in Germany, Norway, China, and Australia. He has just recently returned from leading the band at the 75th Anniversary Shows in both Brisbane and Auckland where he was also one of the lone pipers.
After returning to Perth in 2020, Alisdair resumed his role as Pipe Major of the Grade 1 Western Australia Police Pipe Band, where he helped establish the WA Police Youth Development Pipe Band to foster emerging talent. In 2022, the band made a successful return to the concert stage with its Superfly concert, recorded live and released as its latest album.
In 2023, he was invited as the international guest piping instructor at the Royal New Zealand Piping and Drumming School in Christchurch. Later that year he taught at the South Australia Piping and Drumming School in Adelaide and will again this year be an instructor at the Pipe Bands Australia Winter School.
Currently, Alisdair is Head of Pipe Band and Piping Instruction at Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Perth, which is one of only a handful of all female pipe bands left in the world. The PLC Pipe Band, Perth finished 3rd at the recent 2026 Australian Pipe Band Championships in both the Juvenile Novice B and Grade 4B categories. In August he will once again return to Edinburgh to perform as Pipe Major of the Tattoo Pipes & Drums at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
Ainsley Hart’s involvement with Pipe Bands dates back to 1978 when he started practice chanter instruction at school. An active pipe band career spanning more than forty years has seen him play with a number of New Zealand, Scottish and Australian bands and culminated in appointments as Pipe Major of two Grade 1 bands.
Ainsley was involved for many years with the New South Wales Pipe Band Association. In this role he championed grass roots piping and drumming initiatives at the national level across a variety of issues and activities.
Following a number of years as a small business operator Ainsley took up an appointment to the Knox Grammar School Pipes and Drums in 2010. It’s a position that he still holds and one in which he has met with remarkable success, taking the band to a 2016 Grade 4 Australian Pipe Band Championship win. Still an active competitor at the top levels of solo piping, Ainsley remains a regular competitor at most Australian benchmark competitions.
Ainsley’s thirty five years of business experience and tertiary qualifications in business have allowed him to bring invaluable leadership and management experience to the role of PBA President. Ainsley’s relaxed and affable manner belies his keen intellect and a burning desire to see the Pipe Band movement grow and flourish.
Scott is originally from New Zealand and was taught by Pipe Major John Downie of the City of Auckland Pipe Band. After completing a Bachelor of Marketing and Management, Scott relocated to Edinburgh and played with the Drambuie Kirkliston Pipe Band for a competition season.
In 1998, Scott returned down under, to Perth, Western Australia, to take up a full-time position with the Western Australian Police Pipe Band. He was part of the team that won the 1998 World Pipe Band Championships Grade 2.
In 2001 Scott relocated to Sydney and took on the role of Pipe Major with the St Mary’s District Band Club Pipes and Drums and, later, The Pipeband Club. For the next six years the band made a steady rise back to Grade 1, along the way winning the Australian Championships Grade 2 (2006), Grade 1 (2008 and 2010) and two third places in the 2006 and 2007 World Pipe Band Championships, Grade 2.
Scott started as the Pipe Band Coordinator at The Scots School Albury in 2013 and led the group to its first Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo appearance in 2017, on overseas tours to Kuala Lumpur, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, Ireland and Scotland; and is the driving force behind the band’s local and international success.
Under Scott’s leadership the band won the 2023 World Pipe Band Championships, the Champion of Champions title as well as the Scottish Championships – all while performing in 26 shows over 20 days at the band’s second Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo appearance.