The Royal New Zealand Navy Band is the musical arm of the

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...

, serving its musical needs from its headquarters at

HMNZS Philomel HMNZS ''Philomel'' is the main administrative naval base of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Originally a training base on board the cruiser it takes its name from, it is part of the Devonport Naval Base in North Shore City, Auckland, New Zealand. His ...

Devonport Naval Base Devonport Naval Base is the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy, located at Devonport, New Zealand on Auckland's North Shore. It is currently the only base of the navy that operates ships, and has been in use as a navy base since 1841. The b ...

North Shore City North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. It is a 32-member band that consists of the following ensembles: *

Concert Band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

* Parade Band *

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 ...

*Jazz Combo *Rock Band *Brass Quintet/Brass Ensemble *Saxophone Quartet *Dixie Band *RNZN

Pipes and Drums A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, a ...

(club)

History

History of New Zealand Navy Bands

Bands from the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

have served with the RNZN for over 36 years, with the first band arriving for service with the

New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy The New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy also known as the New Zealand Station was formed in 1921 and remained in existence until 1941. It was the precursor to the Royal New Zealand Navy. Originally, the Royal Navy was solely responsible for ...

aboard ''

HMS Dunedin HMS ''Dunedin'' was a light cruiser of the Royal Navy, pennant number D93. She was launched from the yards of Armstrong Whitworth, Newcastle-on-Tyne on 19 November 1918 and commissioned on 13 September 1919. She has been the only ship of t ...

'' in 1924. They often also served in

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...

roled when off duty. During most of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, ''

HMS Achilles Several ships of the Royal Navy have been named ''Achilles'', after the Greek hero Achilles. Four others, two of them prizes, had the French spelling of the name, ''Achille''. * was an 8-gun schooner purchased in 1747. She was captured in 1748 ...

'' and ''

HMS Leander Six ships of the Royal Navy, have been named HMS ''Leander'' after the Greek hero Leander: * was a 52-gun fourth rate launched in 1780. She was captured by the French in 1798, but was recaptured by the Russians in 1799 and returned. She was rename ...

'' maintained marine bands with twelve men each. By 1944, with the decommissioning of Leander from RNZN service and Achilles in refit, only one ship contained a band, with the one it had consisting of fifteen musicians from the RM. Post-1945 there was one Royal Marine detachment and band that served aboard the cruiser

HMNZS Bellona HMS ''Bellona'' was the name ship of her sub-class of light cruisers for the Royal Navy. She was the first of the fourth group of cruisers. Built to a modified design ("Improved Dido") with only four twin 5.25-inch turrets, but with remote p ...

that arrived in 1946 for service.

RNZN Band

The detachment left on 27 November 1951, but the band remained in New Zealand to serve as the official RNZN band, being was elevated to the status of a class A band under the command of a commissioned bandmaster the following year. In 1953 the band was transferred to HMNZS Philomel from Bellona and was designated as the New Zealand Station Royal Marines Band under the command of the Naval Officer in Charge, Auckland, becoming the representative band of the RNZN instead of a single ship. Duties included participating in a full-scale version of The Mikado staged by HMNZS Irrirangi, concerts around New Zealand, and the 1953

Presentation A presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience. Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product. Presenta ...

of the Queen's Colour of the RNZN by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

. During the 1953-54 Royal Tour of New Zealand, the band was posted to the cruiser

HMNZS Black Prince HMS ''Black Prince'' was a light cruiser of the Royal Navy, of the ''Bellona'' subgroup. The cruiser was commissioned in 1943, and served during World War II on the Arctic convoys, during the Normandy landings, and as part of the British Paci ...

that accompanied the

Royal Yacht A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often c ...

. In 1959 approval was given for the formation of the RNZN Band by the Naval Board to replace the New Zealand Division Marine Band when their service in the country ended. On 20 March 1960, a service was held for the band at the Chapel of St Christopher. A plaque of the crest of the

City of Auckland Auckland City was a territorial authority with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Auckland R ...

was presented to the bandmaster Lieutenant C.G. McLean. The band was formally discharged from New Zealand service on 6 April 1960. In 2012, it was one of three bands spared in the government cutback on military bands.

The band today

20110205 PH T1015674 0125 - Flickr - NZ Defence Force

The band maintains a regular schedule of

public duties Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role. Armenia Since September 2018, the Honour Guard Battalion of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia has ...

in Auckland, the largest city in the country. Its rehearsal space at HMNZS Philonel is known as the "Narrow Neck". The band has toured and performed at concerts and

military tattoos A military tattoo is a performance of music or display of armed forces in general. The term comes from the early 17th-century Dutch phrase ''doe den tap toe'' ("turn off the tap"), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeeper ...

in countries such as

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

References

{{Reflist Military bands of New Zealand Royal New Zealand Navy Organizations established in 1959 1959 establishments in New Zealand Wind bands

History

History of New Zealand Navy Bands

RNZN Band

The band today

See also

References