OUR TEAM

Our awesome team of bagpipe composers, customer service and marketing team bringing you fresh tunes and best customer service.

Lincoln Hilton

Co-Founder / Principal Composer / Music Typesetter
Australia

Lincoln runs one of Australia's largest piping programs at Haileybury College alongside Modern Piping. Through Modern Piping, he has brought together an international team of world-class piping composers to bring new music and inspiration to bagpipers around the globe. His contemporary music is being played across the globe by many G1 bands, schools and individuals alongside being featured on shows such as BBC and more. His professional achievements include consecutive winner of Professional Victorian Quaich, Grade 1 Bagad Champion with Bagad Cap Caval, MacCrimmon Champion in the Scottish category and two times Australasian Young Piper of the Year. Lincoln is the founder of “Modern Piping”.

Heather Hilton

Co-Founder / Managing Director
Australia

Modern Piping was founded by husband and wife team, Lincoln and Heather Hilton. Heather designed our website and oversees marketing, product development,  photography and cinematography. When Heather's not busy working on Modern Piping and other creative projects, you'll find her with her wolf babies.

Chris Armstrong

Composer
Scotland

Chris is widely considered one of the best solo pipers of our generation winning a multitude of high end competitions and prizes like the Gold Medal at the Northen Meeting and claiming the Bratach Gorm just to mention a couple. He is the creator of X-treme drone reeds and bagpipes and has put out three albums. Some of his earlier compositions can be found in his publications “Notes Frae Ma Heid” vol 1 & 2 and “RE:tradition”. Chris is the current P/M of the Scottish Power Pipe Band.

Lorne MacDougall

Composer
Scotland

Lorne is a contemporary piper and multi-instrumentalist known for seamlessly integrating his sounds into movie soundtracks with credits including “Brave”, “Whisky Galore” and “How to Train Your Dragon 2” and to cult British television shows like “Doctor Who” and “Thunderbirds”. He performs regularly with the pioneering traditional folk band The Tannahill Weavers, piping supergroup Tryst and co-produced and performed all releases from the masters of modern bagrock, the Red Hot Chilli Pipers.

BRIGHDE CHAIMBEUL

Composer
Scotland

Brìghde Chaimbeul grew up on Skye and began playing the Highland bagpipes at the age of 7. Her debut album The Reeling (2019) was met with critical acclaim, including The Guardian’s Folk Album Of The Month, one of The Quietus’ Albums Of The Year, a SAY award Nomination and the BBC Radio 2 Horizon Award. 

BRADLEY PARKER

Composer
Scotland

Bradley Parker is a piper & whistle-player from Portavogie, Northern Ireland. In 2012, he was awarded Northern Ireland’s Young Musician of the Year and was the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust Winner in 2019 & BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year Finalist 2021. Bradley is a 3x Grade 1 World Pipe Band Champion with Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band. His time is now spent teaching at the High School of Glasgow & performing with Harbour Road as well as releasing and performing his solo music. 

Ross Ainslie

Composer
Scotland

Ross is a highly in-demand musician for his skill on the pipes, whistles and cittern. He has recorded and featured in multiple albums and has joined an array of acclaimed bands on tour and in the recording studio. Ross has had numerous nominations in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and Scots Trad Music Awards winning the composer of the year in 2015. His earlier compositions can be found in his book, “Homemade Tunes”.

R.S. MacDonald

Composer
Japan

Roddy’s music has been featured in over fifty recordings to date. These have been performed by bands of Coldstream Guards and Black Watch, Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, and the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. He has also recorded an album called Good Drying and published a book of his own tunes called R S MacDonald: The Collection.

Alisdair McLaren

Composer
Australia

Alisdair is the P/M of the Western Australia Police Pipe Band. Prior to joining the Police Pipe Band, Alisdair was the Director of The National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland and a member of the Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band where he has won every major Pipe Band title. During his time with FMM he completed the “Grand Slam” twice winning all 5 major championships in one season! 

Dougie McCance

Composer
Scotland

Dougie has toured the world with the world famous ‘Red Hot Chilli Pipers’ for the past 8 years and recorded on many of their albums. The 2017 BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year finalist has also recorded on the soundtrack to the Dreamworks film ‘How To Train Your Dragon 2’, appeared in a video with Nicki Minaj on MTV and even performed with Ed Sheeran at the EMA Awards! Earlier this year he released his debut Album, “Composed”.

Alex Gandy

Composer
Canada

Alex has been piping for 20 years and has established himself as one of the worlds leading soloists, recently winning the Silver Star MSR at Inverness gaining an invitation to the Glendiffich Championship. He works in the Financial Industry in his home of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and is engaged to seven-time Canadian Highland Dance champion Chantal Watt. He is the current P/M of the 78th Highlanders Halifax Citadel Pipe Band.

Scott Wallace

Composer
Scotland

Scott started piping at the age of 14. He has played with St.Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band and Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band winning over 6 world titles across both bands. He was also the P/S of the Western Australia Police Pipe Band when they won the G1 national title in 2016. The 2017 All Ireland Senior Champion and pianist is also an avid composer releasing his own publication “Indigenous” earlier this year in August.

Alastair Lee

Composer
Canada

Alastair is a multi-instrumentalist musician who graduated with honors from the Art Institute of Vancouver in professional sound engineering. He started with the Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band and joined SFU in 2008. Alastair has gone on to win the Grade 1 World Pipe Band Championship in his first two tries (2008 & 2009). In Scotland, he is the former winner of the MSR at Oban and in the Gold Medal category for Piobaireachd at Oban and Inverness.

Chris Gray

Composer
Scotland

In 2017 Chris won the World Pipe Band Championships with Inveraray & District Pipe Band. Since then, his self-titled debut album was released, featuring all original compositions. Originally from the South West of Scotland, Chris was a 2021 BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year Semi-Finalist and received a Master's Degree in Scottish Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He performs regularly and continues to travel the world, teaching and performing music with the pipes, whistle, and piano.

Ciaren Ross

Composer
Scotland

Residing from Glasgow, Scotland. Ciaren began his piping journey at the age of 4 where he was taught by his father, Pipe Major Gordon Ross. Currently Ciaren has won the MSR at London, The SPA and many more. Furthermore, after graduating from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a First Class Honours, Ciaren is the full time piping instructor at East Lothian Schools where he hopes to embark on a new journey in creating a new schools band in the coming years along with his current band Shotts and Dykehead.

Craig Muirhead

Composer
Scotland

Craig Muirhead is from Bannockburn, Scotland who currently spends his time as the Director of Piping and Drumming at Strathallan School in Perthshire. He has released two collections of his original compositions and enjoyed success in major solo competitions. Craig's professional highlights include performing live in front of one billion people at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games and touring with the Red Hot Chilli Pipers.

Danny Hutcheson

Composer
Scotland

Danny began learning the chanter at the age of 5. Since 2016 he has played with Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia and was part of the 2017 Pre-Worlds Concert, RISE. Outside of competing bands Danny is also one of the Pipe Majors for the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland as well as being a Piper in Drums ’N’ Roses. In July 2020 he graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a 1st Class Honours Degree in Traditional Music - Piping. He currently works at Wallace Bagpipes as a Bagpipe maker.

Xavier Boderiou

Composer
France

Xavier is a player with the famous Bagad Cap Caval and has competed with the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band and Shotts & Dykhead Pipe Band winning two World Pipe Band Championships in 2008 and 2009 with SFU. He competes regularly on the solo circuit in Scotland and is a frequent workshop tutor across the globe. He currently works as a pipe maker for his Redwood Reeds and Boderiou pipes.

Bruce Gandy

Composer
Canada

Bruce has an impressive record in his G1 Pipe Band career starting with City of Victoria as a 12 year old, playing in the famous 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band from 1982-97 and currently a Pipe Seargent with the Halifax 78th Highlanders Pipe Band since 2000. He has individually won numerous gold medals and competed at the prestigious Glenfiddich Championships 13 times; this year with his son Alex Gandy. A teacher and workshop Leader who is in demand worldwide, Bruce is also a prolific composer of tunes, and has published four collections of music.

Calum Brown

Composer
Scotland

Scotland Calum Brown is a North East Scotland champion piper who has played the bagpipes from a very early age. Calum, a member of Inveraray & District Pipe Band, is a regular place-getter in A Grade solos and has won many prestigious competitions, including the inaugural P/M Robert G Hardie Memorial Trophy, the Scots Guards Association knockout competition, and Pipe Idol.

“I truly believe anyone can make great music or be a great player. It’s all about hard work, consistency and pushing past those moments when you want to give up. A lot of times I’ll start a project that ends up being awesome and completely different than the original idea.”

-Lincoln Hilton

Pushing the boundaries of pipes and honouring the foundation of tradition.

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