Ann Gray

(1962 - )

Ann Gray was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 14, 1962 to a family of musical women. She started piping at age 10 as a member of the Balmoral Girls’ Pipe Band in Stellarton, N.S.

By the age of 18 she had won every amateur piping award in the province, and had advanced to the professional ranks.

She started teaching at the Gaelic College in Cape Breton when she finished high school, and was Pipe Major of the Gaelic College Pipe Band for five years. During this time she was also a member of the Grade 1 Scotia Legion Pipe Band from Halifax.

She earned a Master of Arts degree in Celtic Studies from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia in 1986 and then moved to Calgary, Alberta, where she currently resides.

Her major competitive awards include the Dunvegan Medal at Portree, Isle of Skye, in 1995, the ‘B’ Marches at Inverness in 2000, Best Overseas Player at the Braemar Highland Gathering in 2003 and second place in the North America Gold Medal in both 2004 and 2006. In 2006 she won the overall title at the United States Piping Foundation competition in 2006.

A prolific and popular composer, Ann’s tunes are showcased on several CDs. She has two solo CDs to her credit: A Twist in the Tale (1995) and Shouting at Magpies (1998). A member of the folk group, Seanachie, she performs on four of the band’s CDs: Telling Tales (1996), A Quarrel with Whisky (1999), A Parting Cup (2002) and Five Days in April (2003).

She has also published two bagpipe music books:  Ann Gray’s Collection of Music for the Great Highland Bagpipe (2000) and Volume 2 of that collection (2004).

At the time of this writing, Ann is currently a snare drummer with the Rocky Mountain Pipe Band in Calgary, and is in her third and final year of law school at the University of Calgary.

-October 2006