The 15th Field Regiment (RCA) Band is one of five Reserve Force bands in the

Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery , colors = The guns of the RCA themselves , colors_label = Colours , march = * Slow march: "Royal Artillery Slow March" * Quick march (dismounted parades): "British Grenadiers/ The ...

, located at

Bessborough Armoury Bessborough Armoury is a Canadian Forces armoury located at 2025 West 11th Avenue in Vancouver, British Columbia. History Construction of the armoury began in September 1932 and was completed in the following spring. Architecture The architec ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. It is a brass and reed band that is part of the RCA's 15th Field Artillery Regiment. All 45 members of the band are reservists while being trained as soldiers and musicians.Moogk 1988, p.56 The Band plays for a variety of events including

military funeral A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards ...

ceremonies A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

s and

Mess The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

events. The band maintains a full

marching Marching refers to the organized, uniformed, steady walking forward in either rhythmic or route-step time; and, typically, it refers to overland movements on foot of military troops and units under field orders. Marching is often performed t ...

and concert band as well as other

musical ensemble A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, ...

s that include

jazz combo A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ho ...

s and rock bands. The band's Director of Music is the unit's principal conductor and is responsible for the band's creative direction. The band was formed in 1934, 20 years after the regiment's establishment and just after it moved into its current base. Since 1994, the band has been the only reserve band on the mainland

. In 2000, the band outgrew its facilities in the Bessborough Armoury and relocated to the Garrison Headquarters building near Jericho Beach on English Bay. The Band then moved to the newly built Hoffmeister Building near the Burrard Street Bridge in 2019. Although still under the command and control of the home regiment, the band functions largely independently as a self-contained subunit and performs more than one hundred engagements annually.

Directors of Music

The following is a list of directors of music since 1933: *Will Edmunds (1934-1937) *Chief Warrant Officer Al Sweet (1953-1969) *Major Peter Erwin (1969-1984) *Captain Richard Van Slyke (1984-2004) *Captain James Tempest (2004-2017) *Captain Cheryl McHugh (2017-2022) *Warrant Officer Nathaniel Senff (2022-2023) *Warrant Officer Eric Wong (2023-Present)

Role

Rogers Santa Claus Parade 2013 (11162882273)

The band is a part of

39 Canadian Brigade Group 39 Canadian Brigade Group (39 CBG; french: link=no, 39e Groupe-brigade du Canada) is a Canadian Forces formation of the Canadian Army under the 3rd Canadian Division. The brigade group is composed of Canadian Forces (CF) Primary Reserve units, all ...

, and supports all types of activities in the brigade. Since 1994, its duties have expanded greatly to support all reserve units in the province. It participates in all Vancouver area civilian and military parades, representing the regiment and the RCA. It also parades in

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

and even as far east as

The Kootenays The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay ...

. The band has become a vital tool in public relations for the Army. Outside the country, the band has performed in community celebrations in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. In 2003 and 2012, the band took part in the

Fortissimo Sunset Ceremony The Fortissimo Sunset Ceremony is an annual Canadian military music event held on the grounds of Parliament Hill in the Canadian capital of Ottawa. The ceremony is a combination of the historical Beating Retreat event which originated in the Unit ...

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their architectu ...

at the invitation of the

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

-based

Ceremonial Guard The Ceremonial Guard (CG; french: Garde de cérémonie) is an ''ad hoc'' military unit in the Canadian Armed Forces that performs the Changing the Guard ceremony on Parliament Hill and posts sentries at Rideau Hall, with the National War Memo ...

International Military Concert

The band has participated in the International Military Concert in the United States state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

since the 1990s. It involves the participation of the band, accompanied from Canada by the

Naden Band of Maritime Forces Pacific The Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy is one of six regular force military bands of the Canadian Forces. The Royal Canadian Navy band is based at CFB Esquimalt in Esquimalt, British Columbia that serves as the official musical unit of the C ...

, as well as bands from the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

, which have included in years past: the I Corps Band, the 133rd

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States A ...

Band, United States Navy Band Northwest, and United States Air Force Band of the Golden West. Featured music often played at the concert include the two national anthems ("

O Canada "O Canada" (french: Ô Canada, italic=no) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the mus ...

" and "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

") unit marches (

Anchors Aweigh "Anchors Aweigh" is the fight song of the United States Naval Academy and unofficial march song of the United States Navy. It was composed in 1906 by Charles A. Zimmermann with lyrics by Alfred Hart Miles. When he composed "Anchors Aweigh", Zim ...

, Royal Artillery Slow March, and

Heart of Oak "Heart of Oak" is the official march of the Royal Navy. It is also the official march of several Commonwealth navies, including the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy. It was also the official march of the Royal Australian Navy ...

). Contemporary marches are also performed at the concert.

Performing sections

The principal components of the band are divided into the following sections: *

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

*Woodwind *Percussion The RCA Band is a 45 piece band that also performs in the following configurations: *Parade Band *Concert Band *Quay Winds *Bessborough Brass (established in 1990) *Locarno Saxophones *Jericho Tuba Ensemble *The Gunners Big Band *Scarlet and Blues Clarinet Quintet

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Band of the 15th Field Regiment Bands of the Canadian Army Musical groups established in 1934 Musical groups from Vancouver 1934 establishments in British Columbia

Directors of Music

Role

International Military Concert

Performing sections

See also

References