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.

Jeffrey M. Mann

Secretary

Jeff started music at an early age and always had a strong interest in the bagpipes. Prior to piping, he studied both the organ and the piano. His first gig in pipe bands scene was to play tenor drum for the Utah Pipe Band. He then started learning bagpipes from David D. Barclay and Andrew Morrill. Later he studied with Jack Lee and currently is studying under Bob Worrall. He was Vice Chair of the Wasatch & District Pipe Band.

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.