Richard Baughman recently became the lead tip of Saffron United Pipe Band after playing with the Toronto Metro Police grade one pipe band for five years. Richard has received numerous awards for solo competitions, including third place at the North American championship open contest and the Champion Supreme award for amateur drumming. Richard attended Interlochen Arts Academy for four years and currently attends The Juilliard School where he majors in percussion

Brian Cooper came to play with us just before the 2002 Season after moving to New York to pursue a career in  Acting. Previously Brian played with the North Coast Pipe Band in Cleveland, Ohio. He has very quickly become one of the most consistent and hard working players in the corp. One of his best traits is the out right positive and infectious attitude Brian brings to the table each time he picks up his instrument. He out right won the "McDonalds Tray Award" for best newcomer to the band in 2002 and we hope that he is a cornerstone within the band for years to come. Brian lives in New York City with his Fiancé Stacy and is available for individual or group instruction, he plays a set of Sinclair bagpipes. Brian is also available to play at any event  that can be enhanced by a top notch performance on the Highland Bagpipe.

Jimmy Faughnan  started playing pipes when he was 7 years with his brother Michael. This was under the very strict instruction of Stewart Robertson. This started a career of Solo competition that had both brothers in the prize list before they were ten years. Most of the early years were spent with Stewart’s instructional pipe band "The Glengarry Pipe Band" which was sponsored by the VFW in Sayville.  After the band broke up Jimmy continued with his Solo competition and worked with Ray Ledger for a few years. Jimmy spent many of his early summers at "Thousand Island School of Performing Arts" in Brockville Ontario where many of the worlds great talents spent their summers working with pipers & drummers.   He joined the Saffron Kilts in 1976. He has held various different offices within the band over the years and is a very big part of "making thing happen" which is why he has been voted "MVP" more than once.  Jimmy is known for his big chanter sound that, at times carries everyone around him, as well as his hard work and dedication. He plays a set of Kintail pipes. Jim currently lives in Islip with his wife Alice and his four children, Katelyn, Conner, Meagan and James Jr.

Michael Faughnan  started playing pipes when he was 8 years with his brother Jimmy. This was under the very strict instruction of Stewart Robertson from Edinburgh Scotland. Stewart was the cousin of JB Robertson from the Scots Guards guards and a judge in Scotland, S Africa and the EUSPBA during the 60's & 70's. This started a career of Solo competition that had both brothers in the prize list before they were ten years old and carried the journey through to the open professional class. Stewart was a conduit to the great pipers that frequently visited and corresponded with him. We met, studied with or played for the likes of Big Angus McDonald, Wee Donald McLeod and John MacFadyen to mention a few. Most of the early years were spent with Stewart’s instructional pipe band "The Glengarry Pipe Band" which was sponsored by the VFW in Sayville. A band that also had Michael’s brother Tommy, a current piper in the SKPB playing drums. Michael served as Pipe Major for 3 years. After the band broke up Michael continued his Solo competition and worked with Ray Ledger for a few years. Michael and his brothers  spent many of their early summers at "Thousand Island School of Performing Arts" in Brockville Ontario where many of the worlds great talents spent their summers working with pipers & drummers.   He joined the Saffron Kilts in 1976 and help to take them from the parade circuit to a program that fields competitive grade 2, 4 and 5 pipe bands . The band has traveled to play in the White House for a Presidential Audience, played at the World Championships in Glasgow Scotland, played at The All Ireland Championships and have been regulars at the North American Chapionship's in Canada.  Michael attended Iona College in New Rochelle on a full Piping scholarship that also had him act as the Pipe Major of the Iona College Pipe Band for 4 years. He is married to Bridget who is from Donegal, Ireland and they have three children. Alanna, Michael Og & Charlie. They currently reside in Mt. Sinai. At the March 2002 St. Patrick's Day Ball in Babylon Michael was finally left speechless as he was presented the Honor of  "Hibernian of the Year 2002". As dignitaries  and politicians all got up to present Michael with plaques and proclamations he was silenced for a while.

Tommy Faughnan has been playing the pipes with the SKPB since 1978 and competes with the grade 2 pipe band. Most of the early years were spent as a snare drummer with  "The Glengarry Pipe Band" which was sponsored by the VFW in Sayville. After the band broke up he worked with his brothers to start on the bagpipes and followed on to work  under the very strict instruction of Stewart Robertson. This started a career of Solo competition that had Tommy reach the Open professional Class. Tommy  spent many of his early summers at "Thousand Island School of Performing Arts" in Brockville Ontario where many of the worlds great talents spent their summers working with pipers & drummers. It was at this school that he was awarded the most improved student by Capt John McClellan two summers in a row.  He joined the Saffron Kilts in 1978. He has held various different offices within the band over the years and is a very big part of helping us achieve our sound on games day.   He currently lives in Sayville with his wife Janet and his three children, Emily, Thomas Jr. and Andrew. Tommy also teaches The Roisin Dubh Pipe Band in E.Islip

Paul Gallagher has been a drummer with the Saffron Kilts since 1981, yet it seems like he has been in the band forever. He competes with the grade 2 pipe band.    Paul is the heart and soul of the family atmosphere in the band and does all the little things to make people feel part of the vibe.  He and his accordion are a must in the Beer tent after a contest or in any gathering in need of tunes.  He has a fondness for Shakespeare in the buff and knows his way around in a golf cart. Paul was voted the bands "MVP" by his peers for the 2000 season for his overall contribution and dedication over the years. Paul competes in amateur grade 1 in the EUSPBA. Paul instructs the Suffolk Police Pipe Band Drum Corp. Paul  married former drummer Kathy and they make Port Jefferson Station their home with their new born son Brandon Joseph who was just born on March 20, 2003.

Ryan  Gill In his debut season with the band Ryan shown what hard work and focus can do. He has benefited from the instruction of Richard Baughman and has become one of our top young drummers.  While he is with our Drum Corp this season he attends school at Iona College on a Pipe Band Scholarship. Ryan's primary residence is Florida where he played with the Ft. Lauderdale Highlanders. He is from a second generation Pipe Band member as his Dad Artie not only plays the Pipes but also attended Iona College.

Andy Hamilton We are pleased to welcome Alexander “Andy” Hamilton, Jr. back to Saffron United.  Andy played snare with the band during the 2000 competition season, and made a cameo appearance on multi-toms for the band’s prize-winning debut performance at Monmouth in 2002.  In addition to having played snare and tenor with the Grade II band, Andy’s contributions to the organization include working with the Grade IV band this year as the Full-Time Drumming Instructor.

Andy has studied pipe band snare drumming under Dennis Burke, Jon Quigg, & Andy White, and played in drum corps under Gordon Bell, John Ruxton, & Paul Vaillancourt.  He counts Jim and Colum Lundt of Tullach Ard as early pipe band influences, and has been instructed most recently by Richard Baughman.  Andy comes from a pipe band family that has been active in two of the local Irish County pipe bands here in New York:  His father, Alex, and sister, Mary, are both pipers, and his brother Dan plays snare and bass.  In 1990 Andy (as Drum Sergeant) and long time friend James Neggie (as Pipe Major) led their band from New York to County Kildare to compete at the All-Ireland Championship.  Andy has also competed in Highland Games in such far-flung places as Anchorage, Alaska and Honolulu, Hawaii as a member of the Honolulu Pipes & Drums.

Upon graduating from the University of Hawaii in 1992, Andy returned to New York and created the East Coast Percussion Conference to promote the art of pipe band drumming.  The conference ran for 5 years and incorporated an Open Invitational Drum Contest for the last three years of its existence.  The conference aimed to complement the standard workshop format by providing lectures and presentations that would both inspire and educate.  The Open Contest drew not only some of the best talent in North America, but it also brought such luminaries as Hugh Cameron, John Kerr, and Jim Kilpatrick to the area as judges.  Incidentally, the only player to ever “sweep” the East Coast Open Invitational by winning both the MSR and the Hornpipe/Jig events was fellow Saffron drummer Vivian Stapleton. 

As a solo competitor Andy won the Grade II Trophy at the John Kirkwood Memorial contest in Chicago, Illinois in 1996, and currently competes in Grade II snare on the EUSPBA solo circuit.  In addition to pipe band drumming, Andy has also studied percussion under Chet Doboe and had the honor of writing the CD liner notes for the percussion ensemble Hip Pickles.  

Jimmy Kavanaugh has been a piper with the Saffron Kilts Pipe band since 1967 when he debuted as an 8 yr. old piping prodigy. Jimmy studied for many years with Ray Ledger and has competed at every level up to the grade 1 level. Jim went to Iona College on a piping scholarship where he served as Pipe Major. After graduating Jimmy took up a career in the United States Marine Corp. Jimmy continued through out the years to play as he could with the band commuting from as far away as London, Virginia, Washington DC and North Carolina at times.  Jimmy is married to Dublin native Collette who competed with us as a tenor drummer for a few years. Jimmy is very proud of his son John Paul who is now playing with the grade 2 pipe band.

John Paul Kavanaugh John is another of our young upcoming drummers and the son of piper Jimmy Kavanaugh. Truly home grown John Paul has come up through the ranks having played in our grade 5 and 4 corps in years past. This will be his first season in the grade 2 corp. JP works with Richard Baughman. 

Brian May

Mike Mahoney originally came to us from the Tara Pipes & Drums in 1999 and has rapidly come up  the curve. Mike is a very hard worker and takes a lot of pride in his playing.  This past off season the EUSPBA promoted Mike to Amateur grade II. He has spent many summers working on his playing at the Balmoral School of Highland Arts and the Invermark School of Piping. Mike has also traveled to Scotland where he worked on his playing at the Piping Centre in Glasgow with some of the finest musicians in the world. Michael is attending Iona College on a Piping Scholarship.

Peter McGuire

Thomas McGuire

Kevin McSwiggan originally joined the band in 1997 having spent his early years with the Tara Pipes & Drums. Kevin is a third generation piper as his dad Kevin Sr. also plays with the band. Kevin's uncle Tom was the Pipe Major of the County Tyrone Pipe Band in their hay day during the 60's as one of the better grade 1 bands on the east coast. Tom McSwiggan was responsible for getting many bands started in the Tri State area including The New York City Fire Department Pipes & Drums, The Amityville Highlanders,  and the Pipes & Drums of the New York City Police.   Kevin competes in solo's in amateur grade 3. He is currently attending Iona College on a piping scholarship. Kevin is currently studying abroad on an exchange program at the University of Notre Dame in Perth Australia.

Donal Morrissey Jr. is a fourth generation piper; second generation in the Saffron Kilts, and has been with the band since 1980. Donal started with the American Celtic Pipe Band while his father took a sabbatical from the SKPB to help form this new band. He soon came back to us with Dad. His father, Donal Sr. (Iona College alumni) has been a piper with the band for many years and is currently in charge of our entry-level program of teaching piping and cultivating our young players. Don Sr. and his cousin Brian Meagher Sr. both learned from Brian's father Thomas Meagher. Thomas Meagher himself was from a large Piping family. There are at least three branches on this piping family (The Bronx, Long Island and Rockland County) that have large families that are active in competitive piping today. During the late 70’s Donal Jr. regularly attended piping summer school at The Gaelic College at St Anne's in Nova Scotia where at an early age he was exposed to quality piping. After working his way up through the competitive ranks with the band Don took a few years off. He came back into the band in 1995 where he has played with our top competitive group since. Donal has been very active in Solo’s where he was a regular in the prize list during the 1999 season which had the EUSPBA upgrade him after he finished 3rd place overall in the Eastern United States. During the 1998 season Donal got engaged to Sandi Williford at the Capital District Highland Games in Schenectady, NY. In front of the entire massed bands, spectators and Press coverage Donal popped the question to thunderous applause. Donal has worked with George Bell over the last two years. Donal is exceptionally motivated and excited to start the 2003 campaign. Donal and Sandi make their home in Patchouge with their new born son Donal.

Bob Mulligan has been in the band since 1978, originally coming into the band as a student of Greg McLaughlin. There have always been a Mulligan in the band. Bob's dad Frank was a long time member of the band playing the bass drum. Over the years brother Patrick and sisters Anne & Cathy have played in the band. Bob competes in amateur grade 1. Bob served as Drum Sergeant of the Iona College Pipe Band when he went there under a Pipe Band Scholarship.

Collette O'Connor has been with the band for the past several years. She previously played with the grade 3 Cullen Pipe Band in County Cork. Collette is one of our hardest working players in the band. She has become very active in the piping community since she has arrived working with  The County Cork Pipe Band in New York as well as many individual pipers in the area. 

Patrick O'Hara is a second-generation piper with the Saffron Kilts as his father Pat O’Hara Sr. was a member of the pipe band for many years before achieving the status "Life time member". Pat Sr. came from County Fermanagh and played with the old Fermanagh Pipe Band in New York before coming to the Kilts. In the true Family spirit of the Saffron Kilts Pat’s sister Kathy was a piper with the band for many years. Patrick has been in the Pipe Band since 1979 coming out of the Saffron Kilts farm system. Pat has worked tirelessly to improve his skills and those around him over the years. This hard work has helped the band advance in many different areas. Pat has held the position of Quarter Master for many years as well as serving as Pipe Sergeant of the band for the last 12 years. He has served as coordinator of the grade 4 band for a number of years when they were named Champions Supreme a few years back. Pat also teaches the Suffolk County Emerald Society Pipe Band. Patrick now resides in Setauket with his wife Marysia and his two children Christine and Patrick.

Brendan O'Rourke has been a piper with the Saffron since 1989. He has been competing with the bands top group since he came to us from the American Celtic Pipe Band. Brendan is very much from a piping family as his father Hugh (Iona College alumni), brothers Patrick and Sean (Iona College alumni 2000) play the pipes and his brother Michael plays the drums. In the 80's the family regularly attended The Timmons School of Piping in Ontario where they were exposed to some of the finest Instruction available. Brendan attended Iona College on a four year piping scholarship where he served as Pipe Major of the Iona College Pipe Band and graduated in 1996.  Brendan competes Solo Amateur Grade 1. 

Sean O'Rourke has been a piper with Saffron since 1994 and currently competes with the grade 2 Pipe Band. Sean is very much from a piping family as his father Hugh (Iona College alumni), brothers Patrick and Brendan (Iona College alumni 1996) play the pipes and his brother Michael plays the drums. In the 80's the family regularly attended The Timmons School of Piping in Ontario where they were exposed to some of the finest Instruction available. Sean is a very active composer of Piping music and our medley sets often feature some of his original compositions. Sean also attended Iona College and served as the Pipe Major of the Pipe Band. He currently works for the Wall Street Brokerage firm Credit Suisse First Boston. Sean became engaged to fellow Iona Alum Tara McDermott in March of 2003

Mike O'Rourke has come a long way in the last two years as he has climbed up through the amateur ranks of the EUSPBA by consistently winning at every level. He currently is in amateur grade 1. He is a disciple of Paul Vaillancourt who has acted as a mentor to Michael in his drumming studies. Mike won the prestigious 2000 John Murray Memorial Snare Drumming Challenge open to EUSPBA members 17 and under. Michael comes from a Pipe Band family with his Dad Hugh, and his brothers Patrick, Brendan & Sean all pipers. Mike graduated from  Iona College in 2005 and works for the Hedge Fund DiMaio Ahmed Capital. Michael currently studies with Richard Baughman.

Colleen Priest has become an integral part of the grade 2's midsection for the past 4 yrs. She also plays snare for Rosin Dubh Pipe Band.

Brian Pantekoek  has been played Bass  in the grade 2 band for the last 3 seasons. We are lucky to have Brian in the fold as he is doing his Doctoral Studies in percussion at Stony Brook University. He originally hails from North of the border. He is currently playing in our mid section on the rhythm tenor in the grade 2 band as well as teaching and playing snare in our grade 4 drum corp. Brian is available to work with your drum corp on an ongoing basis or for special clinics.  He is also available for individual lessons in any aspect of percussion or music theory. 

Brian Pantekoek has been working as a composer in the Ottawa area since 1995. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in composition under the tuteledge of Steven Gellman in 1997. Pantekoek's works include If We Remain Healthy... for viola, piano, percussion and tape, A Cog has a Very Short Life for trumpet, tuba percussion and tape; and Songs of Love and Death for soprano, piano and percussion. He is currently working on Brevity, a piece commissioned by the Canadian Broadcastig Corporation for soprano, flute and piano to be performed in the winter of 1998.

Pantekoek studied percussion with Ken Simpson throughout his bachelor's degree. He has been a regular performing member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra since 1993. Pantekoek has also been a member of Percussion Plus which performed at the 1997 Ottawa Chamber Music Festival. Other noted performances include the premiere of Patrick Crosley's Reflections for percussion and clarinet (1996), Marg Stubbington's choral works with marimba, Beast and Rain (1997) as well as his participation in the world premiere of his own composition A Cog has a Very Short Life (1997) at the University of Ottawa.

In addition to composing music, Pantekoek has been painting since childhood, and writing poetry since 1994. These forms of expression have become integral to his music. He is currently compiling his written works in a single volume of poetry which will have links to both his compositions and visual art. The intention of this synthesis is to eventually work as a multidisciplinary artist and to experiment with the similarities that various media have to offer.

Annie Schellhorn has been part of the midsection of the grade 2 band for the past 4 yrs. She is also very active in The Mise Eire Irish Dancers She is currently enrolled at Gettysburg University.

Caitlin Schellhorn has been part of the midsection of the grade 2 band for the past 4 yrs. She is also very active in The Mise Eire Irish Dancers  

Paul Vaillancourt is a professional percussion player who is from Alexandria, Ontario. He previously played with the grade 2 Glengarry Pipe Band from Maxville.   He is on Long Island for the past few years finishing up his doctorate in percussion at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Paul is a professional teacher and is available for private instruction in any form of percussion  for individuals and or groups. His enthusiasm and creativity are contagious.

Matthew Welch has  recently relocated to Long Island and after he returns from competing at the World Championships with the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band will be a most welcome resource to both the band and all of the New York Tristate area. His experience with SFU and his academic back ground make him one of the premier instructors on the East Coast. He will become one of the Tri State areas first Full time Bagpipe Instructor. He will be available to serious players that are willing to challenge themselves in the pursuit of becoming better. Matt is also available for seminars tailored to your band.

Matthew is a composer and multi-instrumentalist that works from an eclectic musical foundation. As an instrumentalist, his primary background comes through the tradition of Scottish Bagpiping, having studied with masters such as Colin MacLellan, Jack Lee and Angus MacLellan. Matthew also is a member of the four - time World Champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, having played with the band on their most recent wins in 1999 and 2001. He has also had a successful professional solo piping career within the circuit of the Northwest. Matthew has been involved with teaching piping for eight years now, including a being a pipe major of Simon Fraser's grade 2 pipe band. He extends his repertoire of music beyond the tradition, having premiered a number of new compositions written for him by a number of contemporary composers, and this exposes the link to his broader musical career. 

Matthew holds two University degrees in Experimental Music Composition, a BFA from Simon Fraser University and an MA from Wesleyan University, and has studied with noted composers such as Owen Underhill, Rodney Sharman, Alvin Lucier and Anthony Braxton. His compositions range from traditional-like piping tunes to improvisation strategies and fully notated works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles and large orchestras. His involvement with a more diverse musical context has led him into an expansion of his instrumental array to include alternative bagpipe strategies, Indonesian Gamelan percussion music, and he also frequently executes his compositions as well as others on the accordion and various saxophones. Matthew's experience in top notch piping environments augmented by his extended musical interplay with composition and the descriptive academic study of music is sure to present a thoroughly informed and unique package in any context or capacity.