> SFU pipe band wins world championship
SFU pipe band wins world championship
Terry Lee, cellular: 604.313.7473
Don MacLachlan, SFU Public Affairs and Media Relations, cellular 604.763.3929
Don MacLachlan, SFU Public Affairs and Media Relations, cellular 604.763.3929
August 16, 2008
The famed Simon Fraser University Pipe Band won its fifth world championship in Scotland on Aug. 16.
Playing on Glasgow Green, the SFU band defeated a longtime rival, the Field Marshal Montgomery band from Northern Ireland. Montgomery had won the title in 2006 and 2007.
"A great, great day," said Pipe Major Terry Lee. "We were up against the world's best, and it's so good to come out on top again."
Winning the worlds for the first time since 2001, the SFU band won the Medley contest, placed second in the March, Strathspey and Reel event, and its drum corps was tops in the world in drumming in both sections.
"The two best ensemble performances we have played in the 16 years I have been with the band," said Reid Maxwell, lead drummer. "It was awesome! "
Scotland's House of Edgar/Shotts and Dykehead band finished third. Fourth was Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland); fifth, St. Laurence O'Toole (Ireland); and sixth the Strathclyde Police Band (Scotland). The Scottish-Lion 78th Fraser Highlanders from Toronto placed seventh.
The World Pipe Band Championships are Scotland’s largest annual musical and cultural event, with 40,000 visitors, 8,000 pipers and drummers and a record 221 bands from 16 different countries this year. The SFU band first won the world Grade 1 title on Glasgow Green in 1995, then repeated in 1996, 1999 and 2001. In 2002, SFU was second behind the Field Marshal Montgomery Band. In 2003, SFU placed third. In 2004, it again was second behind Field Marshal Montgomery. SFU placed third in 2005.
Led by the two Lee brothers --Terry and Pipe Sergeant Jack Lee--and lead drummer Maxwell, the band again placed second in 2006 and 2007, narrowly losing out to the Montgomery band on both occasions. Dave Bowman, side drummer, playing in his first World Pipe Band Championship with the SFU band, said: "It is an honour and a pleasure to become part of the rich history and tradition that is this magnificent pipe band."
Andrew Hayes, piper, playing in his fourth Worlds with the band, added: "Some players in this band, like Blair Cooper and Grant Maxwell, have waited seven years to win this championship. It is a great pleasure to win this championship with them."
Grant Maxwell is the son of Reid Maxwell, the lead drummer. Said Reid: “There aren’t many bands anywhere, no matter what level, that can boast so many father-son connections."
This year's competition had a special father-son meaning for Terry Lee. It’s the first year his son Alastair, who also leads the organization’s junior affiliate Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band, performed with him in the Grade 1 final.
Family ties are nothing new in the SFU Pipe Band. Jack Lee’s oldest and middle sons Andrew and Colin are both band members, as is his niece Brittany.
The band also includes four married couples; a brother who plays the pipes while his sister drums; two brothers who travel all the way from Scotland to play with the band each year; and two brothers who regularly commute from Calgary.
The commuting title belongs to Steven McWhirter, arguably the finest pipe band drummer in the world, who lives in Northern Ireland but moves to Burnaby every spring and summer to play with Simon Fraser. “We have people from all over,” notes Reid Maxwell. “In the drum corps we have three from Northern Ireland, three from the U.S., three from Scotland. Also, we have Stuart Liddell, possibly the world’s best piper, who’s been travelling from Scotland since 1998 to play with the band.”
For more information on the band visit www.sfupipeband.com.
Three other Canadian Grade 1 pipe bands (Alberta Caledonia, Toronto Police, and Peel Regional Police) didn't place in the top five of the qualifier event and thus did not make it to the Grade 1 final.
Vancouver's White Spot Pipe Band placed sixth in the Juvenile Pipe Bands event.
Playing on Glasgow Green, the SFU band defeated a longtime rival, the Field Marshal Montgomery band from Northern Ireland. Montgomery had won the title in 2006 and 2007.
"A great, great day," said Pipe Major Terry Lee. "We were up against the world's best, and it's so good to come out on top again."
Winning the worlds for the first time since 2001, the SFU band won the Medley contest, placed second in the March, Strathspey and Reel event, and its drum corps was tops in the world in drumming in both sections.
"The two best ensemble performances we have played in the 16 years I have been with the band," said Reid Maxwell, lead drummer. "It was awesome! "
Scotland's House of Edgar/Shotts and Dykehead band finished third. Fourth was Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland); fifth, St. Laurence O'Toole (Ireland); and sixth the Strathclyde Police Band (Scotland). The Scottish-Lion 78th Fraser Highlanders from Toronto placed seventh.
The World Pipe Band Championships are Scotland’s largest annual musical and cultural event, with 40,000 visitors, 8,000 pipers and drummers and a record 221 bands from 16 different countries this year. The SFU band first won the world Grade 1 title on Glasgow Green in 1995, then repeated in 1996, 1999 and 2001. In 2002, SFU was second behind the Field Marshal Montgomery Band. In 2003, SFU placed third. In 2004, it again was second behind Field Marshal Montgomery. SFU placed third in 2005.
Led by the two Lee brothers --Terry and Pipe Sergeant Jack Lee--and lead drummer Maxwell, the band again placed second in 2006 and 2007, narrowly losing out to the Montgomery band on both occasions. Dave Bowman, side drummer, playing in his first World Pipe Band Championship with the SFU band, said: "It is an honour and a pleasure to become part of the rich history and tradition that is this magnificent pipe band."
Andrew Hayes, piper, playing in his fourth Worlds with the band, added: "Some players in this band, like Blair Cooper and Grant Maxwell, have waited seven years to win this championship. It is a great pleasure to win this championship with them."
Grant Maxwell is the son of Reid Maxwell, the lead drummer. Said Reid: “There aren’t many bands anywhere, no matter what level, that can boast so many father-son connections."
This year's competition had a special father-son meaning for Terry Lee. It’s the first year his son Alastair, who also leads the organization’s junior affiliate Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band, performed with him in the Grade 1 final.
Family ties are nothing new in the SFU Pipe Band. Jack Lee’s oldest and middle sons Andrew and Colin are both band members, as is his niece Brittany.
The band also includes four married couples; a brother who plays the pipes while his sister drums; two brothers who travel all the way from Scotland to play with the band each year; and two brothers who regularly commute from Calgary.
The commuting title belongs to Steven McWhirter, arguably the finest pipe band drummer in the world, who lives in Northern Ireland but moves to Burnaby every spring and summer to play with Simon Fraser. “We have people from all over,” notes Reid Maxwell. “In the drum corps we have three from Northern Ireland, three from the U.S., three from Scotland. Also, we have Stuart Liddell, possibly the world’s best piper, who’s been travelling from Scotland since 1998 to play with the band.”
For more information on the band visit www.sfupipeband.com.
Three other Canadian Grade 1 pipe bands (Alberta Caledonia, Toronto Police, and Peel Regional Police) didn't place in the top five of the qualifier event and thus did not make it to the Grade 1 final.
Vancouver's White Spot Pipe Band placed sixth in the Juvenile Pipe Bands event.