It was Grandma Whible who contacted a member of the Adirondack Pipe Band in Glens Falls, NY, and got Len Wood his first bagpipe lessons in 1956.
Young Len applied himself with vigor to his piping studies. When his family moved to Arizona in 1961, he sought out the Phoenix Scottish Pipe Band, the oldest continuously running bagpipe band in the state, eventually becoming Pipe Major. He helped organize Arizona’s first highland games in Encanto Park, predecessor to the festival now held in Mesa.

The Navy took Len to San Diego in 1970, where he played with the Cameron Highlanders. Stationed in Charleston, SC, he joined the Midlothian Pipes and Drums and assisted in the development of the highland games in that city. He founded the Savannah Celtic Pipe Band in Savannah, GA, and played for 12 years with the award-winning Atlanta Pipe Band.

Len returned to Phoenix in 1998 and sought out his old band. He has revived Phoenix Scottish, bringing back old members, recruiting new ones, expanding the repertory and returning the band to competition status. He teaches bagpipes to beginners and to pipers who want to improve their skills and learn to play Piobaireachd, the classical music of the bagpipes. He recently organized the first Piping Weekend at the Irish Cultural Center, a two-day event including a day of Piobaireachd lessons and a day of solo piping competition.

Len is a member of the Piobaireachd Society in Scotland and is the Piping Instructor at the Irish Cultural Center in Phoenix, Arizona.