Scott MacAulay (left) won teaching awards, and was well-loved by his students. (CBC)

Scott MacAulay, the driving force behind the only year-round Celtic arts school outside Scotland, has died in Summerside, P.E.I.

MacAulay, director and CEO of the College of Piping in Summerside, died Wednesday morning after an extended battle with cancer. He was 51.

The well-known bagpiper was instrumental in the founding and growth of the college since its establishment in 1990.

A Hamilton native, with parents from the Outer Hebrides, MacAulay was one of the world's best-known pipers when he agreed to be director of the college.

"When he came, I think he was just going to stay a little while and see how it worked out and he never left," said Don Groom, a Summerside businessman who was on the committee that helped bring MacAulay to the Island.

"For the last twenty-some years or whatever, the College of Piping has been his heart and soul and he has been the heart and soul of the college."

The college offers instruction in bagpiping, highland dancing, drumming and step dancing at both the amateur and professional level.

Founded in a small bungalow, the college grew significantly under MacAulay's direction. (CBC)

Founded in 1990 in a small bungalow with 30 students, under MacAulay's direction the school grew rapidly. In 2007, there were more than 400 year-round students, who come to the college from all over the world, and 200 workshop and summer school students.

Facilities include several dance studios, soundproof practice rooms and an outdoor amphitheatre where students put on regular performances.

For MacAulay, performing was at the centre of Celtic arts, and he made it a pillar of the school's curriculum. As a bagpiper, he won numerous awards over his long career.