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103 Regiment Royal Artillery
Parading through Shrewsbury to open the 2019 Flower Show SSgt Mark Thompson ready to entertain the crowds from the 2019 Shrewsbury Flower Show Bandstand
Pianists. Since 2018 we have also offered a 10-piece ensemble, which has proven to be a useful option when providing mess band in smaller venues. In June 2019 the Jazz Ensemble visited Jordan at the invi- tation of the British Embassy, in support of the Defence Attaché. Small ensembles regularly support events on the Isle of Man, including the 2019 Tynwald Day, where the Band Fanfare Team supported the Grenadier Guards. Lance Bombardier Catherine Line travelled to Bulgaria, in the role of ceremonial bugler, in November 2019 to play for Remembrance services in Sofia and Plovdiv, at the request of the British Embassy Sofia.
Community Engagement has become a core element of our work. The band has developed a mutually beneficial partnership with the Rochdale Music Service, who are signatories to the Armed Forces Covenant. This has led to student musicians joining the Armed Forces as both Reserve and Regular Musicians on
completion of their studies. We perform a side-by-side concert with them annually as part of the Rochdale Festival, and we have hosted work experience students in Bolton. In 2018 we also developed a pres- entation for primary school pupils partic- ipating in Blackburn Cathedral’s ‘Sing Together’ programme in support of NW HQ Engagement programme, and over the past two years we have performed joint concerts with young musicians from Rossall School, Fleetwood, and Parklands High School, Chorley.
This has been a period of significant change in band personnel. In 2017 we were sorry to say farewell to six of the most experienced and accom-
plished members of the band due to them exceeding the maximum service age of 55. A new policy was introduced in 2019 and all Army Reserve Musicians can now serve until normal Retirement Age
of 65 without the need for overage exten- sions, this has provided a large amount of strength in depth and has stemmed the outflow of quality performers due to their age alone.
We also mitigated the departures with a determined and largely successful recruiting campaign, which has seen the Band bringing in young musicians from across the region and a number of ex-Reg- ular Army Musicians. In fact we were so successful at displaying the best qualities of military music that in summer 2019 we said farewell to four members of the band for the best possible reasons: Musician Henry Birch (trombone), who played
with us while completing his degree at the Royal Northern College of Music, made a Reserve to Regular transfer, joining The Band and Bugles of The Rifles; Staff Sergeant Simon Moore (trombone), who joined us in 2017 after serving as a Regular Army Musician with The Band of The King’s Division, began an FTRS contract with the Band of the Grenadier Guards; Musician Suzanne Hill (flute),
who played with us while completing a music degree at The University of Salford, began an FTRS contract with The Band of The Parachute Regiment; and Lance Bombardier Steve Andrews (trombone), another long serving member of our band and the Corps of Army Music, began an FTRS contract with The Royal Artillery Band in Tidworth. It is a testament to the close relationships across Army Music, Regular and Reserve, that these opportu- nities are possible.
As a result of the 2019 Military Music Optimisation restructure of Regular Army Music we have been lucky to receive three ex regular musicians who have joined our unit early while they transition to civilian life. This has not only increased
The Pipes and Drums entertaining the community in a pop-up performance in the middle of town during the Shrewsbury Flower Show 2019
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we were sorry to say farewell to six of the most experienced and accomplished members of the band