Board of Directors

Seumas Coyne

President

Seumas started playing pipes at age 3, he started competing at age 7, and he turned professional at age 12. His teachers, beginning with his father, James J. Coyne, have included Angus MacKay, Duncan Johnstone, Angus MacDonald, Jimmy McIntosh, Murray Henderson, Donald MacLeod, Captain John MacLellan, Jack Lee, Tom McAllister, Jr., Terry Lee, and J. K. McAllister. Seumas has won dozens of top national and international prizes and awards over the years, including in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, and at major competitions in Oban, Inverness, and London. He played in the Simon Fraser University (SFU) Pipe Band in the 1980s/90s and is again with the band, playing alongside his respected colleagues. He currently is the Director of the James J. Coyne Memorial School of Piping and Drumming and is full-time in teaching, clinics, composing, and judging.

Dr. Robert Rubin

Vice President

Robert T. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., Vice-President, is a late-comer to the world of piping, having begun instruction at the age of 50+ with Seumas Coyne. For several years he played in Jim and Seumas Coyne’s Grade 4 City of Glendale Pipe Band. He then moved to Pittsburgh, PA for 13 years and had instruction from Jimmy McIntosh, during which time he developed his appreciation of piobaireachd. After his return to Southern California in 2005 and a break from piping for over 15 years for professional reasons, Dr. Rubin is once again having instruction from Seumas Coyne in both piobaireachd and light music.

Paul Allison

Secretary

Paul started playing the snare drum in 4th grade at St. Thomas’ Episcopal in Houston. He was fortunate to receive tuition from some of the greatest players including Alex Duthart, Alistair Dowling, and Bert Barr. Paul was the youngest member of the 1985 Juvenile World Championship Pipe Band and the top juvenile snare drummer in North America in 1989. After moving to California in 1993 and playing with several bands, in 2010 he met Seamus Coyne and played in the drum corps of the James J Coyne Memorial Pipe Band. In 2020 Paul moved back to Texas and is currently the Drum Sargeant with Fort Worth Scottish Pipes and Drums. Inspired by his brother, a piper, Paul took up the bagpipes in 2024, receiving tuition from Seumas Coyne. Paul has started on the long path to playing piobaireachds.

Glen Thompson

Treasurer

Glen is a well-known professional-level piper, senior WUSPBA adjudicator, and piping instructor. Glen’s teachers in his early years were Jimmy Thomson and Donald MacPherson. At age 15 Glen spent a summer at the College of Piping in Glasgow, receiving tuition from Duncan Johnstone, as well as from Angus MacLellan, Ronnie Lawrie, John Burgess, and Donald MacLeod.