Simon Fraser University Pipe Band - History of The Band

History of The Band

The Simon Fraser University Pipe Band was formed in 1966 during the university’s inaugural year. Over the years it has become a respected institution in the community and has brought fame to BC with its capture of national and international prizes.

Led by Pipe Major Terry Lee and Lead Drummer J. Reid Maxwell and wearing the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band tartan, the band consists of a talented core of over forty players. In 1982, the band won the Grade 1 North American Championship, the top prize on the continent. In August 1995 at Glasgow, Scotland, the band captured the ultimate prize on the globe, the Grade 1 World Pipe Band Championship. A year later, the band returned to Scotland and captured the title again, becoming the first pipe band from outside the United Kingdom to win the World Championship more than once.

In 1999, the band regained the World Championship title, winning the World Drum Corps Championship in the process, and followed that up with another Worlds win 2 years later in 2001. In 2001, SFU also won the Australian Pipe Band Championship during a tour to New Zealand and Australia.

In both 2008 and 2009 the band won not only the World Pipe Band Championships but also the World Drum Corps Championship. During its trip to Scotland in August, 2009 the band recorded its album, “Affirmation”, at a sold-out, standing room only, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

In all, the band has produced twelve recordings and three concert/documentary videos, with its latest recording "Live from New York City" in 2012. In June 1996, the band released its first live album, “Alive in America”. 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. This debut performance was recorded and released in June 1998 as “Simon Fraser University Pipe Band – Live at Carnegie Hall”. 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 April 2001 the SFU Pipe Band recorded a CD live at the Sydney Opera House in Australia, “Down Under”. After this string of 3 live recordings in different parts of the world, the band decided to do things closer to home and produced two recordings both in studio and in front of a live audience at SFU in 2005. These were released as “On Home Ground, Volumes I and II” in 2005 and 2006.

On March 26, 2000, following a joint concert the night before with Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster at the Marriott Center of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, the band performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the US national live broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word from the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah.