The Royal Marines Association Concert Band

Here's a lovely guest blog by Sally Callow

It’s our 10th anniversary year and yet many readers of this blog will probably have never heard of us! The Royal Marines Association Concert Band (RMACB) is based in Portsmouth and rehearses weekly at the Royal Marines Museum.

RMACB was formed in June 2006 by Chairman, Major (retd) Paddy Dunn RM and Director of Music, Captain (retd) Ted Whealing RM. The band started with 35 musicians - most being former members of the Royal Marines Band Service; a diverse mix of highly talented men and women of all ages.

The band grew quickly and soon had a membership that exceeded 50 players. RMACB musicians all have a deep passion for music and that enthusiasm comes across in fantastic performances.

The band performs locally at the Portsmouth Guildhall, around the south of England and London. We play around 15 concerts a year to raise funds for Royal Marines Charities. As our name suggests, we are associated with the Royal Marines Association which supports both former and serving Royal Marines and their families.

We have gone from strength to strength in our first decade, our fan base has been growing and the support has been fantastic. We enjoy an excellent reputation for producing and performing top class music.

A new CD is ready to be released in the coming months to celebrate the milestone. This will look back on the excellent music created since 2006; 6 CDs of popular, military and classical music. The RMACB audience’s favourites range from medleys of ABBA, Beatles and Bond music to grand, lively pieces of music such as Resplendent Glory by Galante. Of course, a spot of flag-waving goes down a treat and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ is always a crowd-pleaser!

We play the same music as you would expect from the Royal Marines Band. We are just slightly more experienced! Our musicians have a combined musical performance age of 1800 years!

We have undertaken a couple of overseas trips and have ventured to Malta and Spain. In Malta, we were welcomed with open arms by the Maltese people and their President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

Adventures in Spain will always be remembered as the only time the RMACB have marched! This shocked our older members as it was completely unexpected!

As the RMACB moves forward, into the next decade of playing wonderful music and working with the RMA, we hope to continue delivering spectacular performances both around the UK and overseas. If you would like to know more about the RMACB please look at our website – rmacb.org.uk.

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