Ailis has featured in a range of high-profile
events, including performing on the runway at the Dior Cruise 2025 Fashion Show, for the Van Cleef
& Arpels Fleurs d’Hawaï Launch, and an Abbey Road Studios recording session for video game
soundtrack. She was featured in a Sky Arts documentary where she was filmed playing pipes in the
crown of Stirling’s iconic Wallace Monument and performed at the table read for Outlander Season 8
in 2024. She took to the stage at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay 2024, to perform ‘Common People’ with
90s Britpop legends Pulp.

Ailis is also a World Pipe Band Champion, having won the Grade 1 title with Shotts & Dykehead
Caledonia Pipe Band in 2015, and a finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician
Award (2023). She holds a First Class Honours degree in Applied Music from the University of the
Highlands and Islands, where she also studied wooden flute with acclaimed Glenuig musician Iain
MacDonald.

Nominated for MG ALBA’s Up & Coming Artist Award in 2019 for her work with Hecla, Ailis has
collaborated with a wide array of artists and ensembles, such as GRIT Orchestra, Croft No. Five,
Brìghde Chaimbeul, Kathleen MacInnes and Allan MacDonald. She has also appeared with the Royal
Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO), the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and as part of a PRS
Foundation/Chamber Music Scotland performance with Maxwell Quartet.

Ailis went freelance full time in 2025, having built a reputation as an experienced and committed
music educator alongside her performance career. With 12 years of teaching experience, she has
worked with students of all ages and stages across the world. In her previous role as Clubs Producer
at the National Piping Centre, Ailis developed community-based education projects, that create
accessible pathways for children to learn Scotland’s national instrument.
Her teaching portfolio also includes piping programmes with the University of Glasgow, University of
Edinburgh, the Royal Guard of Oman, the Royal Oman Police and the Indonesian Defence University.
Ailis regularly delivers workshops and classes with cultural organisations including Fèis Rois, Fèis
Bharraigh, Fèis Tìr an Eòrna, Scots Music Group and Far North Retreats, as well as with the Italian
Spring School (Pisa/Bologna, Italy), Sychrov Piping Seminar (Prague, Czech Republic), Celtic Arts
Foundation (Washington, USA) and Càirdeas (Vermont, USA).