The Australian Army Band Sydney (AAB-S) is a full time

military band 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 ti ...

of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

. It is a sub-unit of the

Australian Army Band Corps The Australian Army Band Corps (AABC) is the Australian Army's musical branch. It is roughly the equivalent of the Music Branch (Canadian Forces) and the Royal Corps of Army Music of the British Army. The Corps was formed on 2 August 1968 an ...

, the army's official music branch. An Army band was first formed in 1874 as the resident band at Victoria Barracks in Sydney. In the 1950s, a band was formed that became the Eastern Command Band. After a reorganisation of the Army in 1972, all military bands were either disbanded or renamed, which resulted in the Eastern Command Band being renamed in 1974 to the Band of the 2nd Military District. In 1991, the titles of all bands were changed to reflect their geographical identity, which resulted in it begin renamed to Australian Army Band Sydney. The band provides ceremonial musical support to the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

, including national, state, and vice-regal events. For this, the AAB-S operates the following ensembles: *

Marching Band A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, woodwind, and percus ...

Saxophone Quartet A saxophone quartet is a musical ensemble composed of four saxophones, typically soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones. Different saxophone family members are employed to provide a larger range and a variety of tone colours. Other arrangeme ...

* Brass Quartet * Jazz Band *Acoustic Group *Pep Band *

Rock Band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

Big Band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

The band also has a solo pianist, a lone drummer as well as a lone bugler in its ranks. There is also a jazz band was nominated by

ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

for ''Best Contemporary Jazz Album'' in 2003, promoting the works of contemporary composers and arrangers whilst upholding the traditional standards of swing music. Many musicians from the band are selected to perform as part of the Australian Army Band that represents the country in foreign visits and international tattoos. The band performs during all national and historically significant holidays such as

ANZAC Day , image = Dawn service gnangarra 03.jpg , caption = Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kings Park, Western Australia, 25 April 2009, 94th anniversary. , observedby = Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands New ...

and

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...

. In 2005, Captain Rod Mason of the AAB-S conceived ''Salute to the Aussie Digger'', which was designed to increase awareness on the history of the activities of the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

. The CD includes musical accompaniment by the AAB-S.

References

{{reflist Military units and formations established in 1874 Australian military bands Musical groups established in 1874 1874 establishments in Australia

See also

References