The Toronto Police Pipe Band is a grade one pipe band based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The band was originally formed for local parades and events, and was later used for recruiting drives in World Wars I and II. In the 1970s, the band began competing internationally, and has had considerable success over the years. It won the Grade One North American Championship at the Glengarry Highland Games in 2004. The band had a very successful season in 2006, winning the American, Canadian and North American Championships.
The 2007 and 2008 seasons have proven to be integral in the band's current attention in the piping community; after losing much of the pipe corps and regaining old players in '07 the band competed with an innovative and non-traditional medley titled "Variations on a Theme of Good Intentions" which went against the traditional medley composition as the players performed a suite of a theme rather than separate tunes. The set was composed for pipes by Michael Grey, the band's Pipe Sergeant. The band competed with a different medley in the 2009 season, titled "Idiomatica", and presented yet another in 2010, titled "Gallus No. 3"; both, again, composed by Mr. Grey.
The band's Pipe Major is Ian K. Macdonald. The lead drummer is Ken Constable.
Famous quotes containing the words police, pipe and/or band:
“I’ve met a lot of murderers in my day, but Dr. Garth, whatever he is, is the first man I’ve ever met who was polite to me and still made the chills run up and down my back.”
—Robert D. Andrews. Nick Grindé. Police detective, Before I Hang, describing his meeting with Dr. Garth (1940)
“Pan’s Syrinx was a girl indeed,
Though now she’s turned into a reed;
From that dear reed Pan’s pipe does come,
A pipe that strikes Apollo dumb;
Nor flute, nor lute, nor gittern can
So chant it, as the pipe of Pan;”
—John Lyly (1553–1606)
“Nothing makes a man feel older than to hear a band coming up the street and not to have the impulse to rush downstairs and out on to the sidewalk.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)