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www.celtic-connection.com
DECEMBER 2011/JANUARY 2012
What's next for Jack Lee after winning every top piping award in the world?
VANCOUVER - Jack Lee is the Pipe Sergeant and co-founder of the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band along with his brother Terry.
The band has attained the highest ranks in the world of international piping as six-time World Champions in2009. The actual scope of their accomplishments is breathtaking, having won either first or second place World Champions on 15 occasions over the past 20 years.
Jack Lee has been regarded as one of the world's leading pipers for over 30 years. His accomplishments as a solo piper are legendary and he is much in demand throughout the world as a pipe band leader, a teacher and a performer.
Among the world-class awards Jack has won: The Gold Medal (Inverness and Oban, Scotland); the Gold Clasp, twice (Inverness, Scotland); the Glenfiddich Overall Championship (Blair Atholl, Scotland); The Glenfiddich Piobaireachd contest, three times (Blair Atholl, Scotland); the Senior Piobaireachd (Oban, Scotland); the Silver Star for former winners MSR, four times (Inverness, Scotland); The Bratach Gorm, twice (London, England); The Gillies Cup (London, England); and 17-times winner of the B.C. Pipers Association Annual Gathering.
Jack has released a solo CD as part of Lismor's World's Greatest Piper Series and in 2001 Jack was voted 'Competitive Piper of the Year,' by Piper and Drummer Magazine.
In addition, the SFU Pipe Band has released 10 CDs and two videos, including live performances at New York's Carnegie Hall, and the magnificent Sydney Opera House. Their youth band Robert Malcolm Memorial has won the World Juvenile Championships on four occasions.
In an exclusive interview with The Celtic Connection, Jack Lee spoke about his love of piping and what has motivated and inspired him to reach such astonishing pinnacles on an international stage.
Q: Now that you have won every solo piping award possible, what now?
A: Firstly, I am not really driven by winning, what drives me is I love to play and I love to play well. I go into a lot of piping competitions because they spur me on and if I put in the effort and I play well then I get much more satisfaction from the pressure of the competition than winning. I'm going to try to continue to do that as long as it makes sense.
There is really no other significant award that I haven't already won but I will try to compete for these awards again a few times. The two biggest ones on the calendar certainly are the Clasp of Inverness and the Glenfiddich Championship. The Glenfiddich Championship is an invitational championship and in order to compete in it, you must have won two maj ors in the past calendar year.
I have been fortunate to compete in that a few times, and am hoping to get back to compete again. I have also won the Gold Clasp twice and I would certainly like to be competitive in both those two events again.
Q: Along with the many solo awards, you have also won six World Pipe Band awards with the SFU Pipe Band. Was the first World's win the
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
THE LEE BROTHERS, Jack and Terry at the Citadel in Quebec City in 1999, when they were awarded the Meritorious Service Medal from Governor General Romeo LeBlanc.
most exciting?
A: Definitely the first was the most exciting. I think up to that point we thought we held some kind of record for the band that came in second the most, even though every time we came in second we had a big celebration.
But after a few times coming in second we started to get a bit discouraged because we were so close but just couldn't come over the top and win. When we finally did win first, there was a tremendous elation and celebration.
We came in second at the World Pipe Band competition a total of nine times, so we are pretty sure that we hold the record in that category. But there is nothing can compare with coming in first at the World Pipe Band Competition.
Q: I have noticed that the SFU Pipe Band often seems to be neck and neck with the Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band from Northern Ireland.
A: Yes, they are a great pipe band and a great people from Belfast. We have
had a friendly rivalry with them for the past 20 years.
Q: You and your sons Andrew, Colin and John, also operate a family business of making pipe chanter reeds for bands and soloists. Do you sell locally or internationally?
A: We have been selling them all around the world. We have a website www.leeandsons.com and pipers around the world have been trying our reeds, which we appreciate.
Many years ago I was very fortunate to have a piping teacher named Jimmy McMllan from Burnaby, and I had a great relationship with him throughout his life. He passed away a few years ago.
Anyway, he told me about 30 years ago that I should start recording my self and playing the recording back to listen to my self and I actually started to do that.
About 30 years ago I started to let the tape recorder really run when I was practising and over the years I have thousands of recordings that I use to critique my playing.
We have put those on our website as well, so there are well over a thousand recordings of me on our website playing all kinds of tunes, piobaireachd and marches. We have those recordings on our website for sale.
Q: You also teach piping at home and online around the world via Skype - how does that work?
A: It works really well but every now and then Skype has a bad day and the reception is poor, but for the most part it's been great.
It's really good for those who are in a bit of a remote location and don't have access to a good instructor but who still want to have instruction to improve their playing. There are a lot of people out there like that.
When we were kids and going to Jimmy McMillan for lessons, we would get in the car and drive an hour to get to the house, have a one hour lesson, and then drive an hour home.
So, that was a three hour commitment of time for a one hour lesson. Now with Skype, it's click, log on, and the lesson only takes one hour. Since, I started making reeds a few years ago with my sons, I've had to curtail the teaching a little bit since I just don't have the time.
Q: Jack you and your brother Terry were both awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Governor General of Canada in 1999. Tell me about that?
A: It was a really great honour and we both really appreciated it. It was held at the Citadel in Quebec City, which was really great. It's a wonderful city and we met some very outstanding people at that time.
The Governor General was Romeo LeBlanc, he was a very nice man. I have the medal proudly hanging on my wall along with all my other piping awards.
Q: Can you tell me how you and your brother Terry founded the SFU Pipe Band?
A: Prior to the SFU Pipe Band beginning we had already been running a local pipe band called the City of Port Moody Pipe Band. We were a young Grade 1 and not a very good pipe band.
Simon Fraser University had already
PHOTO: Courtesy of College of Piping
IN September 2011, Jack Lee won his fourth Silver Start Award plus the total aggregate points at the Northern Meetings in Inverness, Scotland. Helping him to hold all the awards are sons, Andrew and Colin.
decided that they needed to upgrade their piping program on campus. Prior to 1981, any students who went to SFU and played the bagpipes and drums could apply for and receive some scholarship assistance.
So it was very sporadic and there weren't that many pipers. It was not a professional organization but at the same time SFU was becoming a world class organization in its own right.
The university approached us as they had heard about these two Chinese brothers named Lee who were very promising and had this young pipe band. When they came to meet us, they said, "Hey, you're not Chinese."
The president at that time, was Dr. George Pederson, a very distinguished man and he became very proud of the pipe band. As a matter a fact, I have stayed in touch with him all these years and whenever the pipe band or I win something of significance, we often get a letter of congratulations from him.
In fact, in his last letter, he said, "I have been surrounded by many great teachers in my time, but the finest teachers I ever met were from the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band."
He referred to how the band has been so strong for the past 30 years, and how our junior pipe band The Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band have won Juvenile World Championships in their own right.
[Some years ago Jack and Terry wrote a tune for Dr. Pederson entitled Doctor George Pederson, President Simon Fraser University which he proudly displays on his office wall.
One Christmas when Dr. Pederson's daughter was wondering what she could get her father, she remembered the tune Jack and Terry had written for him and contacted them to inquire about getting a piper to play the tune for him Christmas morning.
One of the young pipers from Robert Malcolm learned the tune and on Christmas Day, George's doorbell rang and the young piper came marching into the house playing the Doctor George Pederson tune. Dr. Pederson was so thrilled and touched that he wrote a wonderful thank you card to Jack and Terry.]
Speaking about family influences and support in his piping career, Jack said that while his wife Christine is not a piper nor Highland dancer, she is very supportive.
"Our parents were motivators in us learning the pipes," said Jack, "but our grandmother was really the one.
"Our great-grandfather, John Ironside was a piper and Highland dancer and he came from the Glasgow area and moved to Seattle. His daughter was our grandmother and she was the one who was really enthusiastic about the pipes.
"So, we were exposed to the pipes as kids and taken to the Highland Games and heard the pipes. Both Terry and I loved them from the beginning so it was easy for us to get into piping as we were surrounded by pipes. My father Wallace, passed away a few years ago, but my mother Annabelle is still alive."
Each year the SFU Pipe Band traditionally hosts a Burns dinner with a silent auction to benefit The Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band, but this year is a bit different.
Jack said, "Every year we have taken one Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band to Scotland to compete, but this year we will be taking two Robert Malcolm Pipe Bands.
"All the young people who are able to play at the 3A Level and the Novice Juvenile will be going. So, we will be taking 200 people with us to Scotland in2012.
"Our fundraiser this year at the Burns Dinner will be to invest in longer sleeved shirts so that the young pipers don't get too cold as it is very cold playing on a Scottish morning. We really need support since all the proceeds from the Burns Dinner will be going to the Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band.
"Also, 2012 will be a very special year for the SFU Pipe Band as we will be celebrating our 30th anniversary and to celebrate that we're taking the band to New York City in May to record our eleventh CD and do a concert in the famous Lincoln Centre.
"There will be 50 going. The full SFU Pipe Band will be going, so this is a very big undertaking.
"Also, as part of our celebration we are doing a concert at the Vogue Theatre on April 15 and we will have tickets ready very soon. Readers should watch The Celtic Connection for more details."
For tickets to the SFU Burns Dinner on January 20 at the Executive Plaza Hotel, Coquitlam, call Sherry Caves at (604) 669-2004 or e-mail: bayheron@telus.net.