Hello, my name is Kurtis Bryden, first President of Ceol Ar Chridhe School of Celtic Music Society. I have been playing bagpipes for 26 years and started when I was 12 in the Army Cadet program right here in Antigonish. It was because of some extremely dedicated volunteers that I was able to learn music which has changed my life. Music has taken me all over the world and I’ve had opportunities I would never have had without it.

In September of 2025 I had reached out to Dan Cochrane at the Highland Society about funding to get practice chanters so we could start free piping and drumming lessons.

I then talked to Father Danny MacLellan who graciously offered to let us use St Ninan’s Place to teach the lessons.

Terry Gottschall joined me on Thursdays teaching free drumming lessons to go with the piping lessons.

Our original goal was to build the Pipe Band back up and take the first band in decades from Antigonish to Scotland to compete at the World Pipe Band Championships on the Glasgow Green. It may be a few years away, but that remains one of our biggest goals!

Amy MacDonald started teaching free Fiddle lessons at St Ninan’s Place in January.

After talking to many other musicians around Antigonish I saw a real need start a full school of music to help people in the community find the love for music that I had found when I was a kid.

I knew that I wanted the lessons to be free so that no one was left out.

One of my students recommended that I reach out to Mary Beth Carty. Mary Beth Is a multi-talented musician and a dedicated member of the Ceol Ar Cridhe family.

To round out the board I asked Aaron Dunsiger who is the current Pipe Major of the Clan Thompson Pipe Band and Cindy Urquhart who is an amazing piper and member of Clan Thompson.

We’re committed to creating a community where people can learn about Celtic Culture, music and come together and make friends.”