SMA drumline and pipe band to open for Black Watch Battalion

Sarasota Military Academy pipe band and drumline will open for The Pipes and Drums of the Black Watch 3rd Battalion this Sunday, March 24 at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

In 2009, SMA Drum Line Instructor Michael Finley approached Juila Mays, Marketing and Development Manager at Van Wezel, about the possibility of being an opening act for “Drumline Live.”

Although they weren’t allowed to open, the SMA drumline played before the show outside of the venue.

“This will be our first time actually officially opening for a band,” Finley says of the upcoming performance.

The drumline recently opened for the Robert Gates Ringling College Library Association’s Town Hall Lecture, so it’s not the student’s first time on the stage.

“(The students) are very excited about any opportunity they get to play on a stage like Van Wezel,” he says.

The students get fifteen minutes, and the drumline will take the stage to perform three cadences, followed by the pipe band playing three traditional pipe band pieces.

The drumline students average around 25 public performances a year, and the pipe band play around eight.

Following the students, the Pipes, Drums and Highland Dancers of Scotland’s Black Watch will perform traditional folk music and military songs. Tickets are $10 to $15 and are available online at vanwezel.org. Call 826-9303 for more information.