> Pipe band previews World Final tunes Aug. 3
Pipe band previews World Final tunes Aug. 3
Contact:
Terry Lee, 1.877.800.5458; 604.936.8548; cel: 604.313.7473
Stuart Colcleugh, PAMR, 778.782.3210
Terry Lee, 1.877.800.5458; 604.936.8548; cel: 604.313.7473
Stuart Colcleugh, PAMR, 778.782.3210
July 30, 2008
The seven-time runner-up, four-time world champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band will perform a rare public full-dress rehearsal Sunday, Aug. 3, at SFU’s Burnaby campus in preparation for the 2008 World Pipe Band Championships Aug. 16 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Wearing the Ancient Clan Fraser tartan and full regalia, the band’s 40 core musicians and alternates will start with a warm-up and tuning session from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. in the centre grass section of the Academic Quadrangle below the Terry Fox statue. Members will be available for media interviews from approximately 1-2 p.m.
At about 2 p.m., the band will perform both numbers required to win in the Grade 1 arena on Glasgow Green. The first is a combined march, strathspey (slow dance) and reel (lively folk dance) consisting of three pre-arranged traditional Scottish tunes. The second is a medley of music chosen and arranged by the band.
Led by the two Lee brothers – pipe major Terry and pipe sergeant Jack – and lead drummer Reid Maxwell, the SFU Pipe Band placed second at “the Worlds” in 2006 and 2007, narrowly losing out to Northern Ireland's Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band on both occasions. They’ll be looking to recapture their first world title since 2001.
The World Pipe Band Championships are Scotland’s largest annual musical and cultural event with an expected 40,000 visitors, 8,000 pipers and drummers and 200 bands from 16 different countries this year.
A family affair
This year's competition has special meaning for Terry Lee. It’s the first year his son Alastair, who also leads the organization’s junior affiliate Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band, will be performing with him in the Grade 1 final.
Then again, family ties are nothing new in the SFU Pipe Band. Jack Lee’s oldest and middle sons Andrew and Colin are both band members, as is his niece Brittany.
Maxwell’s son Grant has also been playing in the band for several years. “There aren’t many bands anywhere, no matter what level, that can boast so many father-son connections,” he says.
The band also includes four married couples; a brother who plays the pipes while his sister drums; two brothers who travel all the way from Scotland to play with the band each year; and two brothers who regularly commute from Calgary.
But the commuting title belongs to Steven McWhirter, arguably the finest pipe band drummer in the world, who lives in Northern Ireland but moves to Burnaby every spring and summer to play with Simon Fraser.
“We have people from all over,” says Maxwell. “In the drum corps we have three from Northern Ireland, three from the U.S., three from Scotland. Also, we have Stuart Liddell, possibly the world’s best piper, who’s been travelling from Scotland since 1998 to play with the band.”
(Photos available on request)
Wearing the Ancient Clan Fraser tartan and full regalia, the band’s 40 core musicians and alternates will start with a warm-up and tuning session from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. in the centre grass section of the Academic Quadrangle below the Terry Fox statue. Members will be available for media interviews from approximately 1-2 p.m.
At about 2 p.m., the band will perform both numbers required to win in the Grade 1 arena on Glasgow Green. The first is a combined march, strathspey (slow dance) and reel (lively folk dance) consisting of three pre-arranged traditional Scottish tunes. The second is a medley of music chosen and arranged by the band.
Led by the two Lee brothers – pipe major Terry and pipe sergeant Jack – and lead drummer Reid Maxwell, the SFU Pipe Band placed second at “the Worlds” in 2006 and 2007, narrowly losing out to Northern Ireland's Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band on both occasions. They’ll be looking to recapture their first world title since 2001.
The World Pipe Band Championships are Scotland’s largest annual musical and cultural event with an expected 40,000 visitors, 8,000 pipers and drummers and 200 bands from 16 different countries this year.
A family affair
This year's competition has special meaning for Terry Lee. It’s the first year his son Alastair, who also leads the organization’s junior affiliate Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band, will be performing with him in the Grade 1 final.
Then again, family ties are nothing new in the SFU Pipe Band. Jack Lee’s oldest and middle sons Andrew and Colin are both band members, as is his niece Brittany.
Maxwell’s son Grant has also been playing in the band for several years. “There aren’t many bands anywhere, no matter what level, that can boast so many father-son connections,” he says.
The band also includes four married couples; a brother who plays the pipes while his sister drums; two brothers who travel all the way from Scotland to play with the band each year; and two brothers who regularly commute from Calgary.
But the commuting title belongs to Steven McWhirter, arguably the finest pipe band drummer in the world, who lives in Northern Ireland but moves to Burnaby every spring and summer to play with Simon Fraser.
“We have people from all over,” says Maxwell. “In the drum corps we have three from Northern Ireland, three from the U.S., three from Scotland. Also, we have Stuart Liddell, possibly the world’s best piper, who’s been travelling from Scotland since 1998 to play with the band.”
(Photos available on request)