Vancouver Police Pipe Band
Making Plans to Travel to Italy
By JIM McWILLIAMS
The Vancouver Police Pipe band will be heading for Italy next July to take part in the Festival di Bande Militari. The prestigious event is held annually in Modena. The band had been invited twice previously, but was unable to accept because of commitments in Holland and Quebec City. Details have not been finalized, but it is also possible they will perform at a similar tattoo in Albertville in southern France.
The VPPB will be accompanied by the well-known Tartan Pride Highland Dance Team based in Cloverdale. The two groups have teamed up in the past to the delight of audiences in the lower mainland. Now it will be the chance for Italians and thousands of tourists to share the spectacle and the music, all presented with a Canadian flair.
"We're all pretty excited about this trip," says the band's new Pipe Major, Constable Cal Davis. "It is a great opportunity for both groups to showcase their talents and enjoy touring a really interesting part of the world.
"Of course, it also means putting together a show designed specially for an Italian audience, so we will be working at it all winter and spring. Fortunately, there is plenty of enthusiasm among the members."
Other band officers are Drum Major Bruce Eburne, Drum-Sergeant Scott Valance, and Pipe-Sergeant Jim McWilliams. Tartan Pride is under the direction of well-known dance teacher and adjudicator Joan Murray.
"We're always trying to improve the band, and with that goal in mind, are on the lookout for four capable pipers, particularly young people," says Pipe Major Davis. Davis himself joined the band as a young civilian volunteer. He eventually applied to and was accepted as a member of the VPD.
Several years later he is happy he did. "I've performed in the Edinburgh Tattoo, the Netherlands National Tattoo, and various cities and festivals in Canada and the United States." Interested pipers should contact the Vancouver Police Department, Pipe Major Davis (cal.davis@vpd.ca ), or Pipe Sergeant Jim McWilliams (tpride@telus.net).
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