Guest Artists

Sara Gilchrist Szabó has been teaching competitive Scottish Highland Dance since 1998. She opened her own studio in 2003. Sara is certified to teach through the British Association of Teachers of Dance (B.A.T.D.) and is also a member of ScotDance USA. Since 2015 Sara has instructed the dancers at The College of Wooster as an Adjunct Professor of Scottish Highland Dance. Sara’s students’ accomplishments include having won the Midwest Championship 3 times, qualifying to compete at Nationals for 7 straight years and placing in the top six overall at Nationals 4 times. Six of Sara’s students have also become B.A.T.D. Members and often teach along side her at her studio in Westlake, Ohio.

Bentley Wall, bagpiper, began bagpipe lessons at age nine and joined the Cleveland Kiltie Band at 10. He began competition level instruction at age 12 from Noel Slagle, who was a former Pipe Sergeant of the Grade 1, Clan MacFarlane Pipe Band, Ontario, Canada. At 13 Bentley joined the Grade 2, Western Reserve Pipe Band under the direction of Pipe Major Noel Slagle. Thereafter, he served as Pipe Major of several high-caliber pipe band programs including: the Grade 2, Macgregor Pipe Band of Massillon, Ohio; the Grade 2, Clan Moffat Pipes and Drums of Cleveland, Ohio; and the Grade 2, North Coast Pipe Band of Kent, Ohio. He also played with the Grade 2 Windsor Police Pipe Band of Ontario, Canada; the Grade 1 Toronto Police Pipe Band of Ontario; and the world-famous Grade 1, 78th Fraser Highlanders of Ontario. He has led bands in competition at the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland in Grades 2, 3, and 4 many times since the mid 1980s. He has been a certified judge on the Midwest Pipe Band Association panel since the mid 1990s, and he played a series of concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1999. He received a BA degree in Chemistry from the College of Wooster and led the bagpipe band there for three years. He received a Masters and PhD from Case Western Reserve University in Polymer Engineering. He now works as a Senior Research Engineer and Adjunct Faculty for Kent State University.

Currently, Bentley serves as the President and Pipe Major of the North Coast Pipe Band program. The program has three bands, Grade 5, Grade 4 and Grade 3, and all are travelling to Scotland this August to compete in the World Pipe Band Championships.