Albert DeFusco, who resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
has been playing the pipes for eighteen years. He’s
played with MacDonald Pipe Band of Pittsburgh, Turlach
Ur Pipe Band (Grinnell, Iowa), and during the school year
he continues to play with Carnegie Mellon University
Pipes and Drums. The late Alasdair Gillies was a major
influence in Albert’s piping. He took private lessons
from Alasdair for five years while completing graduate
school. Albert currently competes at the Grade One
level in solo contests in the Eastern United States Pipe
Band Association. Albert attended college on a bagpipe scholarship. In 1998
he auditioned and won the scholarship in the Maryland Distinguished Scholar:
Talent in the Arts’ Program. Albert earned his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University
of Pittsburgh, and now he is a Research Assistant Professor at the University
of Pittsburgh. Albert plays the bodhran and several other traditional Irish
instruments. He minored in trumpet in college. He has three younger sisters, two
of whom played the Celtic harp and the third who played the tin whistle. In his
leisure time Albert enjoys yoga, cooking, and ballroom dancing. In the summer
of 2013 Albert started biking and rode The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and
Chesapeake & Ohio (C & O) canal trails from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.
has been playing the pipes for eighteen years. He’s
played with MacDonald Pipe Band of Pittsburgh, Turlach
Ur Pipe Band (Grinnell, Iowa), and during the school year
he continues to play with Carnegie Mellon University
Pipes and Drums. The late Alasdair Gillies was a major
influence in Albert’s piping. He took private lessons
from Alasdair for five years while completing graduate
school. Albert currently competes at the Grade One
level in solo contests in the Eastern United States Pipe
Band Association. Albert attended college on a bagpipe scholarship. In 1998
he auditioned and won the scholarship in the Maryland Distinguished Scholar:
Talent in the Arts’ Program. Albert earned his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University
of Pittsburgh, and now he is a Research Assistant Professor at the University
of Pittsburgh. Albert plays the bodhran and several other traditional Irish
instruments. He minored in trumpet in college. He has three younger sisters, two
of whom played the Celtic harp and the third who played the tin whistle. In his
leisure time Albert enjoys yoga, cooking, and ballroom dancing. In the summer
of 2013 Albert started biking and rode The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and
Chesapeake & Ohio (C & O) canal trails from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.