Simon Fraser Pipe Band: "We Love to Play at the Worlds"
VANCOUVER - Over the past several years, the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band has done a lot of performing and teaching on the road. The band's unique and highly successful Highland Arts Festival (HAF) has instructed thousands of people in various North American locations, and this year it's back in Burnaby April 2 to 4.
The SFU Pipe Band
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The band first put together a Highland Arts Festival at SFU in 1987, and since that time many other programs have been modeled on that ambitious plan. Using the depth of local expertise in Scottish arts, the weekend includes courses such as “Introduction to Gaelic,” “Scottish Baking and Cooking,” and “Medley Construction for Pipe Bands.”
Add to that guest instructors with world-beating qualifications, and the SFU Highland Arts Festival offers a weekend of instruction, discussion, social activity and concert performance that is unmatched.
"This is a weekend that we all look forward to for months," says band projects manager Robert MacNeil. "There is so much positive energy, and such a desire to learn and have fun – it really gets us all excited about what we're doing."
For many, the highlight of the weekend will be the HAF concert featuring the SFU Pipe Band along with its visually stunning dance team, Celtic musicians, and special guests. On the bill this year are fiddling sensation Ashley MacLeod, 2003 “Piper of the Year” and double medalist Bruce Gandy, Lead Drummer Eric Ward of the famous Strathclyde Police, and four-time World Champion Highland dancer Gregor Bowman.
The concert will be held April 4 at 7 PM at the Bell Performing Arts Centre in Surrey. Tickets are available through the Box Office (604-507-6355) or online at www.bpac.sd36.bc.ca/ or on the SFU Pipe Band web site at www.sfupipeband.com
The SFU Pipe Band commitment to teaching doesn't end in April, however. The band's annual summer school "Piping Hot Summer Drummer" is scheduled for Silver Star Mountain July 4 to 9 this summer, and once again people from all across North America and beyond will be there to learn about piping, drumming, pipe bands, and fiddling.
School director and band Pipe Sergeant Jack Lee is excited about this year's event. “We have added new programs that will appeal to pipers and drummers of all ages, and we are really happy to offer fiddling instruction this year with Ashley MacLeod. It’s going to be a great week.”
In the meantime, the band continues its week-to-week teaching through the Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band program, which this year will be sending one of its bands to compete in Scotland. Last year, the RMM Juvenile band won the World Juvenile Championship, and this year the Grade Two band will be seeking to better its second place finish from 2002.
The SFU Pipe Band takes to the field itself again this year in Scotland, and will once again be competing against the best pipe bands in the world in an effort to regain the World Championship title for the fifth time. And after all the teaching at home, the band likes to think that it does a little teaching on the road in Scotland too.
“We love to play for the knowledgeable crowd at the Worlds,” says Pipe Major Terry Lee, “and we also like to think that some of them learn from the band’s performances there. We know that our performances have influenced many bands’ approaches to their music, and that is always an indication that people are learning new things from the band.”
The SFU Pipe Band is sure to be among the contenders at this year's event, and it all starts for the season right here at home during the SFU Highland Arts Festival.
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