Michel d'Avenas

Pipe Major Michel d'Avenas is a classically trained musician and award-winning professional piper with over 30 years performance and instructional experience. He is the Pipe Major of the Monterey Bay Pipe Band and the leading bagpipe instructor in Monterey County. He is also a piping competition judge at Scottish Festivals and other events. Michael is the founder of the Monterey Celtic Arts Academy and The Monterey Bay School of Piping and Drumming.

Michel plays a classic set of Great Highland bagpipes. Mounted in ivory with engraved silver and African Blackwood drones, they were manufactured by William Sinclair & Sons of Edinburgh, Scotland. Michel is often seen at sundown playing the pipes at the Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach.

A Monterey County native, Michel's family came from both Great Britain and France. He has a musical heritage that extends through many generations. Michel studied music theory and composition at UC Berkeley, and studied piping with internationally renowned, championship bagpipe players and instructors, including: Seumas MacNeil, Ian MacFadyen, John Burgess, Archie Cairns, Jimmy MacColl, and Jack Lee.

Pipe Major Michel d'Avenas is available year-round, seven days a week for your special events throughout the greater Monterey Bay Area, including: Carmel, Pebble Beach, Carmel Valley, Pacific Grove, Big Sur, Monterey, Salinas and the surrounding counties of Santa Cruz and San Benito. He performs at engagement parties, weddings, christenings, graduations, anniversaries, funerals, memorial services, corporate events, commemorative services and inaugurations. He has appeared in both television and magazine advertisements, and was featured in a documentary, "The Healing Pole," that appeared on numerous PBS TV stations.

For galas, special displays or corporate events, Michel can arrange for additional Scottish performers, including drummers, Highland dancers, full Pipe Bands and other Celtic musicians.

Associations

Celtic Society of the Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay Pipe Band - Pipe Major
Monterey Bay School of Piping and Drumming
Monterey Celtic Arts Academy
Monterey Scottish Games - Co-Chair, Piping and Drumming Competition
Scottish Society of the Monterey Peninsula
Piper Western United States Pipe Band Association

Awards

Northern California Indoor Champion
First Place Solo Piping at the Scottish Games in:
  Santa Rosa
  Dunsmuir
  Los Angeles
  Monterey

Clients and Major Event Performances (partial list)

AT&T Pro Am Golf Tournament
Boeing Corporation
Carmel Mayoral Inaugurations
First Night Monterey
National Football League
Northern California Golf Association
Payne Stewart Memorial
Pebble Beach Company
Queen Elizabeth II's San Francisco visit (group performance)
One of the resident bagpipers for The Inn at Spanish Bay
Toyota Corporation