The skirl of the bagpipes and the boom of the drums will once again be heard over Sechelt when the Robert Malcolm Alumni Pipe Band takes its third annual retreat to the Coast on the weekend of March 11 to 13. They like the Coast so much that they also appeared in last year's Canada Day parade in Sechelt and hope to appear in the next one. This group is one of six bands that are part of the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band organization. The 25-member band includes 13 pipers and 12 drummers, aged between 15 and 58. Although most are from the Lower Mainland, some of the musicians are university students who come from as far away as New Hampshire and Australia.
"It's going to be one huge practice session," says band leader Rorri McBlane of the annual retreat. It's a time for participants to become really good by rehearsing for competition. McBlane explains that they are an adult Grade 3 band that grew out of the Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band named after two musicians who were killed in a car crash. Though started in 1965, the band was resurrected in 1980, and also offers a juvenile program. Why do kids learn the bagpipes?
Some because they have Scottish heritage, says McBlane, others for the quality of instruction or because they like to wear a kilt. McBlane has been piping for 42 years and was inspired by his Scottish grandfather who was piper for a highland regiment. The Grade 1 band has won the world championship four times, while the Grade 3 juvenile band has won the world title three times.
Last year, when the band rehearsed at Rockwood, about 40 members of the public happily listened. The public is invited again. McBlane warns that it's not a show or a concert. However, once observers are in attendance, the band will move from the basic repetitive rehearsal drill to playing a medley all the way through for the benefit of the audience. The open sessions are Saturday, March 12, from 7 to 9 p.m. and Sunday, March 13, from 1 to 3 p.m. Just enter the Rockwood north wing, pull up a chair and listen. Whether you are Scottish or no, it's a grand sound.
