The Band of the Royal Military College is a band of the Australian Army that is located in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. It is one of 11 bands that make up the Australian Army Band Corps. Also known as the Duntroon Military Band or the RMC Band, it is the chief musical ensemble of the Royal Military College, Duntroon. [1] It is regarded as one of the premier bands in the AABC today. [2] Since January 1993, the band has been under the direction of Ian McLean, who was himself part of the band in the 1970s. [3]
The Band of the Royal Military College was founded in 1916, as a part-time band composed from volunteers drawn from the riding staff. [4] It was only in 1954 that they were officially established, when a band formed from members of the Regular Army was established at the college. [5] [6] In 1968 it became part of the Australian Army Band Corps. In the 1980s, the band began performing shows for local charities, known as the "Strike up the Band" shows, [7] a tradition that continues to this day under the name "Music at Midday", which happens six times a year. [8] Since 2010, the band has been one of the aspects of the RMC dedicated on the memorial plaque at the ACT Honour Walk. [9]
The Band of the Royal Military College is a 43-piece band that serves primarily as a symphonic wind ensemble and a marching band. It supports all activities sponsored by the Monarchy of Australia, the Governor General, the Federal Government and the Australian Defence Force. Being located in the ACT, it takes responsibility for community events in this area as well as supporting units such as the Australia's Federation Guard in their ceremonial duties. Events in the capital in which the band has taken part include the Canberra International Music Festival and the Canberra Symphony Orchestra series. It has participated in overseas engagements in countries like Switzerland, Turkey, Tonga, and Japan. [10] [11]
It also primarily serves as the sole unit band of RMC Duntroon. Thus, it participates in the ceremonies and parades conducted at the college. One of the more notable of its foreign performances was in 2000, when it accompanied a detachment of the Australian Federation Guard to London where, as part of the centenary celebrations of the Federation of Australia, the AFG mounted the Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace, with the RMC Band provided the music as the de facto Guards Band. [6] Recently the band has supported Australian troops serving overseas. [12] The band is also present at graduation ceremonies [13] [14] and was essential to the RMC's Presentation of Colours ceremony by Queen Elizabeth II. [15]
The ensembles in the band include the following: [16]
The band has released the following albums:
A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of bandmaster or music director. Ottoman military bands are thought to be the oldest variety of military marching bands in the world, dating from the 13th century.
Major General Sir William Throsby Bridges, was a senior Australian Army officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Military College, Duntroon and who served as the first Australian Chief of the General Staff. During the First World War he commanded the 1st Australian Division at Gallipoli, where he died of wounds on 18 May 1915, becoming the first Australian general officer to be killed during the war. He was the first Australian officer—and the first graduate of Kingston—to reach the rank of major general, the first to command a division, and the first to receive a knighthood. He is one of only two Australians killed in action in the Great War to be interred in Australia.
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The Royal Military College, Duntroon, also known simply as Duntroon, is the Australian Army's officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, in 1911 and is at the foot of Mount Pleasant near Lake Burley Griffin, close to the Department of Defence headquarters at Russell Hill. Duntroon is adjacent to the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), which is Australian Defence Force's tri-service military academy that provides military and tertiary academic education for junior officers of the Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Australian Navy.
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The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) is a tri-service military Academy that provides military and academic education for junior officers of the Australian Defence Force in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). In 2016 the Academy began accepting civilian students in its undergraduate courses.
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Eric Fairweather Harrison was an Australian soldier and politician.
Air Marshal Sir Valston Eldridge Hancock, was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1961 to 1965. A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Hancock transferred from the Army to the RAAF in 1929 and qualified as a pilot. His administrative training at Duntroon saw him mainly occupy staff posts, including Deputy Director of Operations and Intelligence at RAAF Headquarters from 1931 to 1935, and Director of Works and Buildings from 1937 to 1939. During the early years of World War II, he commanded No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School, and held senior planning and administrative positions. He eventually saw combat in the Aitape–Wewak campaign of the Pacific War during 1945. Flying Bristol Beaufort light bombers, he led first No. 100 Squadron, and later No. 71 Wing. His actions earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Air Marshal Sir Alister Murray Murdoch, was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He served as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from 1965 to 1969. Joining the Air Force in 1930, Murdoch trained as a seaplane pilot and participated in an Antarctic rescue mission for lost explorers in 1935. During World War II, he commanded No. 221 Squadron RAF in Europe and the Middle East, and later occupied senior positions on the staff of RAAF formations in the South West Pacific. His post-war appointments included Commandant of RAAF College from 1952 to 1953, Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Training Command from 1953 to 1955, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff from 1958 to 1959, and AOC Operational Command from 1962 to 1965.
The Royal Military College of Canada Bands is the official group of bands of the Royal Military College of Canada. The group is composed of four sections: the brass and reed, the pipes and drums, highland dancers, and choristers. Total band membership consists of 105 Officer Cadets from the college. Officer Cadets in the band practice three days a week in the morning on top of attending their individual full-time university programs.
The Corps of Staff Cadets (CSC) is a corps of the Australian Army. It is ranked first in the Order of Precedence ahead of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps. The CSC is the corps to which all officer trainees, known as staff cadets, who attend the Royal Military College, Duntroon are allocated once they have completed their initial stage of training in III Class, known as Initial Cadet Training. Upon completion of this training, which lasts between six and eight weeks, the successful III Class cadets are welcomed into the Corps and presented with their Corps lanyard at what is known as the "Lanyard Parade". The name of the Corps of Staff Cadets is derived from the earliest history of the College, which was set up in 1911 to train officers to fill positions in the now defunct Staff Corps. Currently, however, following graduation, the cadet is promoted to the rank of lieutenant and allocated to a combat, combat support or combat service support corps, such as the Royal Australian Infantry Corps, Royal Australian Engineers, Royal Australian Armoured Corps, Royal Australian Corps of Transport, Royal Australian Artillery, etc.
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