Music on the march

Bermuda is not only safer because of the Royal Bermuda Regiment. It sounds better too

Corporal Kallan Thomas and Lance Corporal Azar Morrissey combine their passion for playing music with opportunities to travel, meet people and serve their country as members of the Royal Bermuda Regiment Band and Corps of Drums.

They became RBR Junior Musicians when they were teenagers and have performed for crowds at home and abroad.

Cpl. Thomas, now 30, is a drummer who has paraded on May 24 and performed with a British Army regiment in the UK and Germany.

He says: “I got to know other services within Bermuda, so I’ve worked with the fire service because we also had members from the fire service in the Band; I worked with the police service because we had members of the police service in the Band, same as corrections, same as EMTs.”

Cpl. Thomas believes the

LOOKING TO GAIN SKILLS, CHALLENGE YOURSELF & LEAD?

Junior Musician programme is a great option for young people to develop in a way that fits around schooling.

“The biggest thing is that you get paid,” he adds.

“The Regiment Band’s a no-brainer. You get to do something that you love to do with people who also love to do it.”

RBR musicians perform at military, ceremonial, and public events, including the Peppercorn Ceremony, King’s birthday, and Remembrance Day parades.

Cpl. Thomas, a teacher in training at the Whitney Institute Middle School, says a “passion to play” is all that’s needed.

“We do get a lot of young people that come in, and eventually go off to school, then they come back in while they’re on school breaks,” he adds.

“Even before going out to school, they can take the opportunities to develop in something other than academics.

“A lot of our young musicians who have gone away to university are playing with university bands, which they may not have been able to do if they didn’t get the extra practice and the extra time learning in Bermuda.”

The Junior Musician programme is open to students aged 15 to 22, who take part in weekly rehearsals and performances as needed.

LCpl. Morrissey, 22, enjoys the interaction between Band members.

“I know it’s traditionally an army setting, but everybody’s like a family, everybody’s close,” he says. “You can have fun when you’re there.”

The saxophonist joined at 17 and soon after travelled to Colorado to play in a military tattoo. In 2021, he joined the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment band for ceremonial performances in Gibraltar.

LCpl. Morrissey says: “As clichéd as it sounds, it prepares you for life – time management, discipline, all of that.

“It’s what employers are looking for.”

Anyone interested can contact Band Officer Lieutenant Sheldon Fox, Tel: 444-2317, email: sefox@gov.bm.

For more information about the Regiment visit: www.bermudaregiment.bm.