Pipe Major Iain MacDonald
Iain, pictured right, enchanted
delegates at Edinburgh2005 when he piped-in the haggis, addressed it,
then played after dinner. He has very kindly agreed to do so once more
at Edinburgh2012.
A native gaelic speaker, Iain received
great encouragement as a boy from his parents who are from Bernera on
the west side of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. More formal tuition was
received from the late Pipe Major Donald MacLeod and from Duncan
Johnstone. As Pipe Major of the Neilston & District Pipe Band, Iain's
interests in traditional music from different countries and cultures
grew. He now has a repertoire of European folkdance tunes which he has
transported to the Scottish Bagpipe scale.
Iain has travelled extensively, all the
time collecting innovative tunes for use with his Band. He travels to
the USA and more recently Japan, to teach piping on a regular basis.
To hear Iain play, including Loch Roag
which is one of his own compositions,
click here.
In his younger days Iain worked in the
laboratories at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and latterly the University of
Glasgow Department of Anaesthesia. His whole blood propofol analyses
formed part of Zeneca's regulatory submission and subsequent approval of
Diprifusor™ TCI.
