Sean Somers

(1979 - )

Sean Somers has established himself as one of the top professional pipers from the Canadian Prairies, gaining accolades as a composer, leader, bandsman, and soloist. He started piping at the age of 8, and got his first lessons from his father, Trewin Somers.

Sean has been a consistent prize-winner in professional piping contests throughout North America and is the pipe-major of the Grade 2 Rocky Mountain Pipe Band (RMPB) based in Calgary, Alberta. As its pipe-major, Sean has led the RMPB to win the North American Pipe Band Championship, the BC Indoor Annual Gathering, the Mid-America Championship, the Northern Canadian Championships, the Alberta Provincial Championships, the Saskatchewan Provincial Championships, and many other top prizes at local Highland Games.

Sean is the former Principal Piping Instructor at the College of Piping (PEI), and has since continued to teach at workshops and at summer schools throughout North America. Sean has also enjoyed opportunities to give recitals in addition to his teaching.

With many appearances in the Grade 1 finals at the World Pipe Band Championships, he is also the former pipe-sergeant of the Grade 1 Alberta Caledonia Pipe Band, and former key member of the 78th Highlanders (Halifax) Pipe Band where he won both the Canadian and North American Championships in Grade 1. Sean spent his formative years with The City of Regina Pipe Band and credits Iain MacDonald (Regina) and Barb MacDonald as major influences on his piping career.

An award-winning composer, Sean is also the author of his own book of bagpipe music entitled “The Out West Collection”. With his compositions appearing in many other contemporary collections of bagpipe music, his tunes have been played and recorded by some of the world’s best soloists and pipe bands.

Sean is the past President of the Alberta Society of Pipers & Drummers (ASPD), past President of the Saskatchewan Pipe Band Association, and former Chair of the Music and Judging Committee with the ASPD. He is a former member of the Music Initiatives Advisory Committee with the Alliance of North American Pipe Band Associations, and also a former member of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s (RSPBA) International Liaison Group, a sub-committee of the RSPBA’s Music Board.

An accredited member of the ASPD adjudication panel, Sean has judged solo and band competitions of all levels throughout North America. Stops include British Columbia, the Canadian Prairies, the Maritimes in eastern Canada, as well as the Pacific Region, the Midwest, Pacific Northwest and Eastern Seaboard of the United States.

Over the years, Sean has also been a contributor to pipes|drums, the world’s most popular magazine for pipers and drummers, with feature articles, reviews and opinion.

Sean has also assisted in the development of a bagpipe making business, which manufactured highland bagpipes, smallpipes, practice chanters and accessories.

Based in Calgary, Alberta, Sean is married with a son and daughter. A civil servant in “real life”, he is a Communications professional with The City of Calgary.

January 2022