University of California Riverside Bagpipe Degree

Ian Whitelaw, the new pipe director at UCR, brings a lifelong love of piping and a passion for its history and culture to the position. Ditto drumming director Ed Best, who has been playing Scottish drums since he was 8.

Walter Clark, music department chairman, is convinced that once word is out that UCR has Whitelaw teaching bagpipes and Best teaching Scottish drums, people will flock to the fledgling program.

UCR has a long Scottish tradition, beginning with the name Highlanders, which was chosen as campus mascot in 1954 and referred to the campus’s elevation above the city. Student housing complexes with Scottish names such as Aberdeen-Inverness, Lothian and Bannockburn dot the campus.

And, it has its own unique tartan plaid – royal blue and ancient gold, shot through with white and black and pleated to the stripe – which is registered in Scotland.

MUS 176 Bagpipe Ensemble (1) Studio, 2 hours. Prerequisite(s): consent of instructor. Study and performance of Scottish bagpipe music. Students who participate in a performance receive a letter grade; other students receive a Satisfactory (S) or No Credit (NC) grade. The course is repeatable.

For more information, please contact:

Ian Whitelaw

• Office: ARTS 156
• Phone: (951) 827-2162
• Email: ian@aceltictraveler.com