Contact:
Jack Lee, in Stirling, 011-44-0798-213-3152 (cell); jack@leeandsonsbagpipes.com
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, in Stirling, 011-44-0751-246-3673 (cell); Marianne_Meadahl@sfu.ca

Scottish time is eight hours ahead of Vancouver

The BBC will stream live its coverage: http://at.sfu.ca/QxbYfE
For more SFU Pipe Band stories/photos/videos see: http://at.sfu.ca/IfQkGm

Members of the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band’s senior and junior bands are going through their final paces as they head into Glasgow for the World Pipe Band Championships tomorrow (Aug. 11). Warm and sunny conditions are so far in the forecast.

The Grade 1 band faces stiff competition from Scottish and Irish bands, including reigning world champions Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band from Ireland. The lineup includes seven Canadian bands.

SFU is vying for its seventh world championship after finishing second last year and is one of 26 bands in the elite Grade 1 category that will give two performances: a traditional March, Strathspey and Reel, and a Medley, created by the band. The MSR performances for the qualifying bands begin at 12:55 p.m. (4:55 a.m. PST) while the Medley competition starts at 3:15 p.m. (7:15 a.m. PST).

SFU is scheduled to play at approximately 2:55 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. Scottish time (that’s 6:55 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. PST).  

Results are announced at the end of the day following a mass band march (estimated time between 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Scottish time; 10:30 -11:30 a.m. PST).

The SFU senior band is one of only four bands outside the UK to win a world championship, taking the prize in 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2008, and 2009. The band has placed second nine times, finishing in the top two in the world in 15 of its 28 years of competing.

Two junior bands are also in Scotland to compete, including the Robert Malcolm Memorial Grade 4 band, led by Gr. 1 Pipe Sergeant Jack Lee, at the Worlds for the first time.

Pitted against 26 other bands in the novice-juvenile category, the band of nine-to-16-year-olds plays at 9:30 a.m. Scottish time (1:30 a.m. PST), in one of two heats. A final dozen move on to play between 12 noon and 1:34 p.m. Scottish time.

The RMM Grade 3 band has also spent the past week in Scotland preparing to compete. Led by Pipe Major Rob Menzies it is made up primarily of pipers and drummers in their early-20s.

The band has won four championships since it began competing in 1997 (1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005), placing second in 2007 and fourth in 2009 (their last appearance at the Worlds). The band is slated to play at 5 p.m. Scottish time (9 a.m. PST).

The Grade 3 band previously competed in the novice-juvenile category (when its players were under 18) and this year will compete in the tougher Grade 3A category.

More than 8,000 competitors and a crowd of over 40,000 spectators are expected to fill Glasgow Green on Saturday.

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