Hi!

I'm Nathan Wahlgren. I play bagpipes, listen to bagpipes, teach bagpipes, and think about bagpipes. Sometimes I do other things, too. 

• Origins: US east coast
• Current residence: Fort Collins, CO, USA 
• Age: middle
• Day job: engineer

• Instructor history 
  • Burt Mitchell
  • Lyric Todkill
  • Dan Cole
  • Jason Barth
  • Peter Kent
• First lesson: August 1998
• First performance: March 1999
• First solo competition: July 2001
• Solo competition grades 
  • 4: 2004
  • 3: 2005-2006
  • 2: 2007-2009
  • 1: 2010-present

• Virginia Military Institute Pipes and Drums, Lexington, VA, 1998-2002 (pipe major 2001-2002), noncompetitive/Grade 5
• Baltimore City Pipe Band, summer 2000, noncompetitive
• Macdonald Pipe Band, Pittsburgh, PA, 2003-2006, Grade 4
• Graham Highlanders of St. Johnsbury Academy, St. Johnsbury, VT, 2006-2008, Grade 4
• MacMillan Pipe Band, Rockville, MD, 2010-2012, Grade 3
• MacMillan-Birtles Pipe Bands, Rockville, MD, 2011, Grade 4 (playing instructor)
• Portland Metro Pipe Band, Portland, OR, 2013-2019, Grade 2
• Willamette Valley Pipes and Drums, Salem, OR, 2020-2025, noncompetitive (pipe major 2020-2024)
• Queen City Pipe Band, Denver, CO, 2026- , Grade 3
• Northern Colorado Caledonia Pipe Band, Longmont, CO, 2026- , Grade 5 (playing instructor)

I play a set of Henderson pipes from about 1949. They were purchased new for Mr. Eugene Lucas by his wife as a Christmas present, and I purchased them from him in 2006. They have simple wooden mounts, nickel ferrules, orange imitation ivory drone caps, and a fantastic warm and rich tone with complex harmonics. I describe them as the Millennium Falcon of bagpipes: "She may not look like much, kid, but she's got it where it counts."

My drone reeds alternate between Crozier glass fiber (which are sadly no longer produced), Balance Tone, and Selbies, and my solo chanter is either a Naill or Henderson Infinity, both in blackwood.