Meet the Team
We are a team of dedicated professionals ready to join you on your piping journey. We are happy to help in as many ways possible!
Ron Bowen
Ron (or Ringo) is a second-generation piper who began this particular journey at the relatively old age of twenty. Within eighteen months of starting he had secured a spot in a top level Grade One pipe band, The Waterloo Regional Police Pipe Band in Ontario Canada. “Ringo” spent the next thirty years playing in and leading various competition bands throughout Ontario before accepting a full-time bagpipe teaching assignment in the United States.
Ron wrote The Care and Maintenance of The Great Highland Bagpipe, The Hal Leonard Bagpipe Method (with Sarajane), and The Hal Leonard Bagpipe Tune Book. He also maintains the largest on-line museum of antique bagpipes on the Internet at www.thebagpipeplace.com. He is in demand worldwide regarding the identification and restoration of vintage bagpipes. He continues to play, instruct, and conduct workshops across North America. You can contact Ringo at ronjbowen@gmail.com or info@thebagpipeplace.com
Sarajane Trier
Sarajane studied music at Carroll College in Waukesha Wisconsin where she attended a Bagpipe Master’s Class (recital and information session) on the instrument at age 18. She kept “bagpipes” on her bucket list while building a twenty-five year career in real estate and finance. In 2004 (at age 40) she acted on her passion and quickly fell victim to the complications and complexities of learning this very difficult instrument. She understands and empathizes with adult beginners and learners.
In 2005 she attended a week-long piping workshop and her understanding and proficiency took a dramatic turn for the better. Over the next several years Sarajane became a competing piper, a principle teacher of three pipe bands and many individuals throughout Wisconsin, and a bagpipe and drumming instructor at a private school. She served as the owner/operator of The MidWest School of Piping and Drumming and is a contributor to The Bagpipe Place. She is very much in demand as an instructor.
In 2014, Ron and Sarajane published their teaching methods in the Hal Leonard Bagpipe Method. The book and video lessons are sold around the world and have been instrumental in helping beginning students of all ages. The Hal Leonard Bagpipe Method and The Hal Leonard Bagpipe Tune Book is available at Amazon, Henderson Imports, and other music stores worldwide.
