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Jack Lee is on top of the world – again. The Simon Fraser University Pipe Band pipe sergeant clinched the first place solo prize in the Clasp for Piobaireachd contest at the Northern Meeting piping competition in Inverness Scotland last weekend.

The prestigious event is reserved for players who’ve previously won the distinguished Gold Medal (which Lee first won at age 24.)

It’s the second time Lee, who is ranked among the world’s most accomplished pipers, has won the elite Clasp. He also won the prize in 1994 and placed second in 2008. “It was an honor just to perform, and to win it again 16 years later feels very good indeed,” says Lee, who has just returned home to Surrey.

The piobaireachd (Gaelic for piping) is the ancient classical music of the bagpipe that features challenging compositions on several themes and becomes more complex as the piece progresses.

In late August Lee also took first in the A-Grade March at the Argyllshire Gathering in Oban.

The Northern Meeting and Argyllshire Gathering are the only two competitions in the world where the Gold Medal and Silver Medal for Piobaireachd are awarded.

The win means he is invited back to participate in the Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championships in late October  (he became the first North American to win this prize in 2003).

Lee is one of several SFU pipers to win major awards at end-of-summer international competitions – in all SFU pipers laid claim to 15 first or second place finishes and another 10 in the top five.

Piper Andrew Bonar took first in the Silver Medal for Piobaireachd and earlier, first for the B-Grade Piobaireachd at the Cowal Gathering in Dunoon.

Piper Jori Chisholm piped a first in the A-Grade piobaireachd in Dunoon, and placed second in both the March and Strathspey & Reel and fifth in the Gold Medal for Piobaireachd in Inverness.

Other firsts went to young piper Will Nichols, who clinched the B-Grade March at Oban and then placed second in the same event in Inverness. Lee’s son John – who made his debut with the Grade 1 band this summer – took firsts in the C-Grade Piobaireachd and March, and placed second in the C-Grade Strathspey & Reel in Dundoon.

Another of Lee’s sons, Andrew, placed second in the B-Grade Strathspey & Reel while Alistair Lee, son of Pipe Major Terry Lee, finished sixth in the A-Grade Strathspey & Reel in Oban.

Jack Lee also placed fourth in the former winners’ March, Strathspey & Reel, while French piper Xavier Boderiou took fourth in the Silver Medal for Piobaireachd.

The SFU Pipe Band placed third in the world at the annual Pipe Band World Championships in mid-August.

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