Grade 3 Band
Pipers
Mike Breidenbach is the Director of Piping at Macalester College and is the Pipe Major of their Grade 3 and grade 5 competition bands. He has been a full time bagpipe teacher and performer since 1999. He began learning at Macalester College in 1992 under the tuition of Andrew Hoag. Later he studied with Donald Lindsay, Jim MacGillivray, and the late Lindsay Kirkwood.
In 1997 and 1998 he was awarded Champion Supreme by the Midwest Pipe Band Association in Grade 2 as a soloist.
Mike has tunes published in The Winnipeg Collection Volume 2, Boney Music Volume 1, and Gail Brown’s Instruction Book.
Pipe Band Experience:
Macalester College Grade 3, 4, 5 1993-present
Kansas City St Andrews Society Pipe Band Grade 2 2002-2005
City Of Chicago Pipe Band Grade 1 2011
Notable Performances:
World Premiere of Pulitzer Prize winning Opera “Silent Night”
Minnesota Orchestra
Rochester Symphony
Minneapolis Pops Orchestra
The Chieftains
Brian Adams
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers
The Piano Guys
Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas
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I started piping while a student at Macalester in 2009 under the instruction of Mike Breidenbach, and joined the Macalester Pipe Band in 2010. I continue to take lessons from Mike and play in the Macalester band. I’ve won scholarships from the Irish Music and Dance Association in Saint Paul, MN to attend the Balmoral School Of Piping and Drumming (St. Paul, MN) and the Invermark School of Piping and Drumming (Catskill Mtns, NY). I was also able to attend Celtic Arts Foundation’s Winter School (Seattle, WA) with generous support from the Celtic Arts Foundation. At these bagpiping camps I’ve received instruction from piping greats including Willie McCallum, Jack Lee, Donald Lindsay, Angus MacColl, Stuart Liddell, Callum Beaumont, Roddy MacLeod, Brian Donaldson, Bruce Gandy, and Fred Morrison. Mynotable awards include winning the 2018 James W. Aiken Memorial Prize (Overall Winner Grade 2 Solo Piping) at the Caledonian Club of San Francisco Scottish Highland Games. One of my best bagpiping memories is winning the 2014 Grade 3 Medley competition with Macalester at the Caledonian Club of San Francisco Scottish Highland Games.
Rhys O’Higgins is a piper from Madison, WI. He picked up the pipes in 2012 under the instruction of his father, and soon joined the Madison Pipes and Drums. In addition to competing with the band, he got involved in solos, rising through the ranks from Jr. Novice to Grade 1 over the next five years, and picking up numerous Champion Supreme titles and other awards along the way. In 2017 he joined the City of Chicago Pipe Band, and in 2020 became a member of Peel Regional Police Pipe Band out of Canada. Also in 2020, he enrolled in Macalester College, and became the “Pipe Band Manager” for, as well as a playing member of, the Macalester College Pipe Band. Over the course of his piping career he’s received instruction from his father, Kristopher O’Higgins, as well as from John Cairns and Micheal Breidenbach, and has also taught numerous students.
Zippa started pipe lessons at the age of 10 at Macalester with P/M Mike Breidenbach and Andrew Lewis. Now a member of Mac’s class of 2025, she has played with the pipe band since 2016. Her current teachers include Donald Lindsay in New York and Murray Henderson in Scotland. Zippa competes in Grade 1 solos, and in 2021 was invited to play in the Nicol-Brown and George Sherriff Invitational competitions. She also enjoys playing Scottish smallpipes and Irish whistle. Zippa is majoring in Geography and minoring in Music at Macalester.
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I started pipes as a teen after hearing Ron Wallace perform at the MN Renaissance Festival. In music-years, I am into my tenth measure in 4/4 time.
The best things about playing bagpipes? Working hard together as a band to create music that can’t be made any other way; the excitement of performing, especially in venues like First Avenue, Orchestra Hall, the Excel Center, and the highland games; being invited into personal celebrations whether a birthday, a wedding, or a celebration of life; and being able to make the music that has captivated me from the moment I first heard it.
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Drummers
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Tony Todero’s father Joe is a bagpiper, so Tony started participating in highland arts, including dance and tenor drumming, at a very early age. Tony’s formal drumming instruction began in 5th grade band class and continued through 9th grade marching band and indoor drum corps, playing drum set and primarily snare. Upon moving to Minnesota for graduate school in 2003, desperately needing a musical outlet, he joined the Macalester College Pipe Band, playing in the snare line with the band on and off since then. He has enjoyed stints with a number of bands, including The Pipes and Drums of Bannockburn (grade 5), the Omaha Pipes & Drums (grade 4), Macalester (grade 3), and City of Chicago (grade 2). Tony is an avid competitor, and he most enjoys competing with the band and solo. His best solo feat was finishing second in grade 2 at Winter Storm, one of the premier drumming competitions in North America. Tony’s been fortunate to learn from and be influenced by several amazing highland drummers, including Steve Sutherland, Hunter Gullickson, John Fisher, and Doug Stronach.
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Grade 5 Band
Pipers
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Mike Householder started playing bagpipes in September 2020 and played with Macalester College Pipe Band for the first time in March 2022.
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I started taking lessons in 1978 from the then PM of the Omaha Pipes & Drums, Pam Klocksheim. I competed about a year later in the solos and band competition at the Colorado School of Mines. I stayed with the band for a number of years and then joined a quartet for a few years before rejoining OP&D. In 2007 we moved to San Diego where I joined the Cameron Highlanders of SD. We competed in all of the California games, as well as those in Phoenix and Las Vegas. With the Omaha band, aside from Scotland, we’ve competed in Minnesota, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri. Most recently I’ve joined the Macalester College Pipe Band under Mike’s leadership and competed last month in Chicago.
My wife and I moved to the Omaha area in 2016 and I rejoined the Omaha band for the third time. With the band we competed in Scotland at Bridge of Allen, North Berwick, and the Worlds in ‘04 and ‘17. We finished in the middle of the pack both times at the Worlds.
Aside from my original PM I’ve received tuition at camps in Oberlin and Milwaukee from Ken Eller, Reay McKay, John Cairns, Jake Watson, and Bruce Gandy.
My favorite memories, besides all of the competitions and the wonderful instructors and band mates I’ve had, performing at weddings, funerals, and on stage a few times, stewarding at Winter Storm and interacting with all the world class pipers and drummers there have been the highlights for me.
And interesting side story is that, after learning to play fairly well, I went to play for my parents. As I played my mother began to cry. I said “Ma I’m not that bad” to which she replied that my playing reminded her of her father’s playing the Italian version of bagpipes called zampogna to his sheep back in Italy. Later, when we visited her home town I made contact with a nearby piper who arranged for Italy’s premier zampogna player to put on a mini concert for my wife and me. It was awesome.
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I originally began bagpipe lessons in 1991-’92 under Pipe Major Andrew Hoag. After 12-18 months, I discontinued
lessons due to time constraints of work, family, military, and life in general. I returned to piping in 2017 under the
instruction of Pipe Major Mike Breidenbach.
In the spring of 2022, I joined the Macalester College Grade 5 Pipe Band.
Accomplishments:
– Competed in my first solo competition June 17, 2022, in Chicago at the age of 72 and placed 5 th out of 16 pipers
Favorite memories:
– First Band performance – 2022 Macalester College Graduation Ceremony
– First Solo and Grade 5 Band competition – 2022 Chicago Scottish Festival & Highland Games
– Friendships and camaraderie of Macalester College Grades 3 and 5 Band members
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Drummers
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