The Toronto Police Pipe Band is a Canadian

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of Bagpipes, pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland b ...

organization based in Toronto,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

directly composed of a band in grade 2; and 5 through its youth affiliate, Ryan Russell Memorial. The band performs at parades, festivals, ceremonies and funerals on behalf of the

Toronto Police Service The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police ser ...

, and participates internationally in piping competitions.

History

The Toronto Police Pipe Band was founded in 1912. The band was originally formed for local parades and events, and later participated in recruiting drives during World War I. The band was forced to temporarily halt operations soon after the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and would not parade until 1960. After the sponsoring force's amalgamation with 12 other municipalities, the band renamed itself to the Metropolitan Toronto Police Pipe Band. In the 1970s, the band began competing, sanctioned in grade 2. The band managed to win 1st place in their division at the

Cowal Gathering The Cowal Highland Gathering (also known as the Cowal Games) is an annual Highland games held in the Scottish town of Dunoon, on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, over the final weekend in August. History The first record of an organise ...

. Sometime after, the band was promoted to the premier grade. Following

Metropolitan Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...

's amalgamation, the band adopted its current name. Toronto Police has won the grade 1 North American Championship at the

Glengarry Highland Games The Glengarry Highland Games consist of a series of traditional Scottish competitions held annually in Maxville, Ontario, Canada, usually held the first weekend in August. The games span three days and with an attendance of over 20,000, are th ...

a total of 3 times in 1996, 2004 and 2006. In 2006, the band won the American, Canadian and North American Championships. In 2008 the band competed with a non-traditional medley titled "Variations on a Theme of Good Intentions". In contrast from traditional medley compositions commonly fielded, this set was constructed as a suite on a theme rather than separate tunes. The set was composed for pipes by Michael Grey, brought in as pipe sergeant, under then-

pipe major The pipe major is the leading musician of a pipe band, whether military or civilian. Like the appointment of drum major, the position is derived from British Army traditions. During the early twentieth century, the term sergeant piper was used ...

Ian K. MacDonald. Grey previously occupied the position of pipe major at the

Peel Regional Police Pipe Band The Peel Regional Police Pipe Band is a Canadian pipe band organization consisting of grades 2, 4 and 5 competition pipe bands based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. History The band was formed in 1976. The band's senior Pipe Major is John Ca ...

, and as pipe sergeant and player with the

78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band The 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band, is a grade 1 competitive pipe band from Campbellville, Ontario, Canada. History The band was formed in 1982 by members of the disbanded General Motors Pipe Band with support from a 78th Fraser Highlanders ...

when they won the

World Pipe Band Championships The World Pipe Band Championships is a pipe band competition held in Glasgow, Scotland. The World Pipe Band Championships as we currently know them have been staged since 1947 although the Grade 1 Pipe Band Competition winners at the annual Cowal ...

in 1987. Grey continued to write competition medleys and other music in his position until departing in the 2013 season to play with the

Glasgow Police Pipe Band Glasgow Police Pipe Band is a grade one pipe band from Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1883 as the Burgh of Govan Police Pipe Band, the band enjoyed its greatest competitive success as the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band. History The band was one of ...

. The band has not competed since the departure of its last drum sergeant Craig Stewart in 2018 and the commencement of their ongoing search for a leading-drummer. Consequently, incumbent Pipe Major Sean McKeown and Pipe Sergeant Ian K. MacDonald, a Detective Constable and Detective respectively within the

, played with the

Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band The Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band is a competitive grade one pipe band from Lisburn, Northern Ireland named in honour of Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. The band has won the World Pipe Band Championships 13 times, making it th ...

the following season in 2019.

Pipe Majors

* ''Thomas Ross'' (1912-1924) * ''??? Leask'' (1924-1939) * ''Alexander "Sandy" Johnson'' (1960-1965) * ''Robert MacDonald'' (1966-1973) * ''John MacDonald'' (1973-1995) * ''James MacHattie'' (2004-2007) *''Ian K. MacDonald'' (1996-2003, 2008-2014) * ''Sean McKeown'' (2015–present)

Leading Drummers

* ''Alan Savage'' (1997-2002) * ''Jeremy Keddy'' (2003) * ''Doug Stronach'' (2004-2010) * ''Ken Constable'' (2011-2013) * ''Mark Passmore'' (2014) * ''Craig Stewart'' (2004, 2015-2018)

Organization

Besides fielding its premier competition band in grade 1, the Toronto Police Pipe Band operates another band in grade 2. The band also instructs 2 juvenile bands in grade 3 and grade 5 through the Ryan Russell Pipe Band. Prior to the grade 2 band's upgrade in 2019, it placed 6th at the 2018 Worlds in grade 3B and won the best drumming award in that section.

Discography

* ''Live at the el Mocambo: Raw and off the Floor (2010)''

References

External links

Toronto Police Pipe BandThe band competing at 2006 Kincardine Highland Games
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toronto Police Pipe Band Musical groups established in 1912 Musical groups from Toronto Grade 1 pipe bands Pipe bands 1912 establishments in Ontario Canadian police bands