Pipe band fine-tunes for Glasgow
Rob MacNeil, band manager, 604.279.5422 ext. 326; 604.657.8695; rob@robertmacneilmusicworks.com
Terry Lee, pipe major, 604.313.7473 (cell)
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 604.209.5770/778.782.3210
Other stories, photos and videos available
The SFU Pipe Band wraps up its practice schedule tonight at Burnaby Mountain Park before heading tomorrow (Aug. 4) to Glasgow, Scotland, vying for its third straight win at the World Bagpipe Championships.
Their final pre-trip session will reinforce that players and instruments are “ready, tuned and on the same page,” says Pipe Sergeant Jack Lee.
“It’s all about tuning and fine-tuning at this point,” says the leader of the six-time world champions. “After this, we’re ready to roll.”
During Monday night’s session tourists flanked the band and clapped approvingly after each practice piece. “They’re making me homesick,” lamented John Robert Fraser, a former Scot and piper who lives in Vancouver and was picnicking at the park when the piping started. “They’re simply the best. I will be following them and wish them luck.”
The band’s first order of business in Scotland will be to pick up new kilts, with a tartan designed by the band, and head for Belfast, Ireland, for a first-ever concert with long-time rivals Field Marshall Montgomery on Aug. 6. They’ll return to Scotland Aug. 7 to prepare for the championship competition on Aug. 14.
Live streaming of the championships will be available from BBC Scotland, by way of bbc.co.uk/worlds (which will also host video clips on demand, available worldwide, after the event).
Over the past weekend both the Grade 1 band and the junior Robert Malcolm Memorial band finished first during competitions at the Seattle Scottish Highland Games in Enumclaw, Washington.
The 47 member band is made up of a core group of local players - from Vancouver, Coquitlam, Burnaby, Surrey, North Vancouver, Delta, Langley, Abbotsford, and Chilliwack – and several from the U.S. and Europe, including France, Ireland and Scotland.
A new documentary film featuring the band, Battle of the Bagpipes: A Journey to the World Pipe Band Championship, airs on CBC-TV (In B.C.) on Aug. 7 at 7 p.m.
For a preview see http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=137269&id=123061954405587#!/video/video.php?v=448161501857&ref=mf
-30-