The Simon Fraser University Pipe Band is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year with a special concert for hometown fans at Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre on April 15 at 2 pm, and another in New York City on May 4.

The concert will feature the six-time world champion band along with its world-class soloists, champion highland dancers and other special guests. (Tickets at www.sfupb.com)

“Very few pipe bands have been able to maintain themselves as world championship contenders for 30 years running, and we are proud of the band’s accomplishments,” says Jack Lee who together with brother Terry Lee has led the band throughout its 30-year history.

The band has claimed six firsts and nine second-place titles at the Glasgow world championships. It has also won both North American and Australian championships, released 10 CDs and performed in many of the world’s great concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Massey Hall and the Mormon Tabernacle.

The band’s teaching of young and old, a large part of its mission, is reflected through its highland arts festival weekends in different parts of the world, the band’s annual summer program and a range of clinics and workshops held worldwide.

As part of its 30th anniversary the band will perform at New York’s Lincoln Theatre where it will record a live CD. It will also conduct an SFU Highland Arts Festival teaching weekend May 4-6.

After completing the local circuit of highland games in B.C. and Washington State this summer, the band—along with its junior band—is off to Scotland for the world championships in August.

“We are looking forward to putting on our best-ever concerts in Vancouver and New York,” says Terry Lee, pipe major. “And we hope to say ‘thanks’ to the many people who have supported our effort for the past 30 years.”