Extra! Extra! SFU is front-page news in Canada’s national newspaper

The Globe and Mail is the biggest and most important newspaper in Canada. Its September 3rd edition featured Vancouver’s Grade 1 Simon Fraser University Pipe Band on the print front page and prominently across its online versions as part of the media outlet’s “Mastering It” series of profile articles.

It’s often said that Canada appreciates pipes and drums even  more than Scotland, and that’s perhaps evidenced by the two full pages it devoted to the serious profile piece, which avoids the common derogatory cliches and stereotypes usually attached to the Highland pipes.

“‘It’s one of the most accurate stories I’ve ever read on a pipe band in the mainstream media,” SFU Pipe-Major Alan Bevan said. “It really gets to the heart of who we are and what we do.”

The article outlines the band’s commitment to the art, including the SFU Pipe Band organization’s extensive teaching program, the “feeder band” system, and the several lower-grade bands that help ensure the Grade 1 band’s extraordinary consistency of standard over nearly 50 years.

“Having a pipe band highlighted in such a positive light by Canada’s most prominent newspaper certainly helps raise the profile of all pipe bands and their art in the minds of the general public.” — SFU Band President Rob MacNeil.

“Having a pipe band highlighted in such a positive light by Canada’s most prominent newspaper certainly helps raise the profile of all pipe bands and their art in the minds of the general public,” commented SFU Band President Rob MacNeil.

An excerpt from the article:

One of the reasons for their success is that the core leaders of the band have endured. There have been just two pipe majors in the past three decades, [Leading-Drummer Reid Maxwell] has been the sole drum lead during that entire time, and Jack Lee and Rob MacNeil, the board president and a piper, have been with the band since its inception.

“We play a long game,” [Pipe-Sergeant Jack Lee] says.

“If we happen to win a massive prize, it’s not the end. It’s just another little excellent marker along the way. We’ve had many, many wonderful moments and a number of low points along the way. But we’ve built this resilience that we’re gonna fight our way back and get back to work and play better next time.”

The piece focuses on the band’s commitment to “the long game” that Jack Lee cites.

Another excerpt:

One of the band’s challenges is regular turnover, with younger members leaving for postsecondary education and older ones for new jobs, or to leadership in other bands. Mr. Maxwell has built an entirely new drum corps a few times, and he puts the cohesiveness of the group above pure skill.

“I’m looking for good people who have talent. I’m not looking for talented people who might be good,” Mr. Maxwell says.

The Simon Fraser University Pipe Band has competed at the World Pipe Band Championship every year since 1981, winning six times, second-place nine times, and more than 20 times featuring in the top-three. The band was fourth at the 2025 World’s.