The Simon Fraser University Pipe Band (SFUPB) is a grade one pipe band affiliated with Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada (a suburb located just east of Vancouver, British Columbia). The band has consistently placed in the top three in world competition and has won the Grade One World Pipe Band Championships six times: 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2008, and 2009. SFUPB is one of only four bands located outside of the United Kingdom that have won a World Pipe Band Championship (the other three being the 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band, the Victoria Police Pipe Band and the St. Laurence O'Toole Pipe Band. In addition, the band has placed second nine times—finishing in the top two in the world in 15 of its 29 years. As of 2012, it has placed in the top three at the World Championships for 14 consecutive years.
SFUPB regularly competes in Highland Games competitions sanctioned by the British Columbia Pipers Association in the northwestern United States and southwestern British Columbia before traveling to Scotland in August for the World Pipe Band Championships. The band wears the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band tartan.
Since 1994, the SFUPB has led an extensive family of pipe bands which each compete in their own grades. This organization is called the Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band.
The band has produced twelve recordings, three concert/documentary videos, and appeared on four BBC Radio Scotland broadcasts. In 2002, the band gave three sold-out concerts in Vancouver, Belfast, and Glasgow, making it one of the busiest winters ever. In April 2001 the band recorded a CD live at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. On February 20, 1998, the band performed in concert at Carnegie Hall, New York City. This concert marked the first time a pipe band has performed a concert at this prestigious venue. The debut performance was recorded and released in June 1998 as Simon Fraser University Pipe Band - Live at Carnegie Hall. In June 1996, the band released its first live album Alive in America, the first live, in concert recording in the United States of a pipe band. Both these concerts are captured in the band's videos The Legacy: The Road to Carnegie Hall and Beyond and Alive in America - The Concert.. In May 2012, the band returned to New York and recorded its latest album "Live from New York City" at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
The band performed twice for Queen Elizabeth during her 1983 Vancouver visit and opened for rock star Rod Stewart at his 1989 and 1991 Vancouver concerts. The band also performed at the opening of the 2009/10 season for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League and the specially commissioned piece they performed was subsequently played before the start of each home game that season. In addition, the band has been profiled internationally on CNN and BBC, nationally on CBC Newsworld, CBC Radio, and CTV, and has been featured many times on Vancouver television and radio stations.
Read more about Simon Fraser University Pipe Band: History of The Band, Notable SFUPB Personalities, Albums, Concert/Documentary Videos
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