Her Majesty’s Royal Marines

The National Museum of the Marine Corps was the sight of a friendly invasion Wednesday as The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines performed a special afternoon concert for an appreciative crowd.
“Fantastic, simply fantastic,” said Frank Butler of Roanoke. “You don’t get many chances to see something like this.”
The 28-member band’s performance included a series of quick marches and slow marches coupled with patriotic tunes, including the national anthems of both nations. The band closed its nearly half-hour performance by marching off to the tune of the Marine Corps Hymn.
“We’ve been really looking forward to this,” said Capt. Craig Burns, director of music for the Royal Marines Band. “It’s the first engagement we’ve had this week.”
Prior to the performance, Burns and his Marines toured the museum, which he called “absolutely amazing.”
The performance also underscored the close relationship between the two Corps’ during a time with British and American Marines serve together on overseas battlefields.
“We have an operational role within the Royal Marines that’s developed over the last 20, 30 years, dating back to the Falklands conflict in 1982,” explained Burns. “It’s developed into a more steady operational role.”
In order to become a member of the Royal Marines band, musicians must complete a three-day audition that tests not only their aptitude to learn to play more instruments, but also their ability to intrinsically become a military musician, he continued.
“We’re looking at aptitude rather than just musical intelligence. It’s an all-around thing. There’s physical tests. There’s mental tests,” Burns said.
Professors from some of the United Kingdom’s leading universities work with band members five days a week.
“My job is my hobby,” Burns, a 26-year veteran of the band, said. “We work hard and we play hard. Just like any Marine.”