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Jul 31 – New Bandmaster For The Royal Gibraltar Regiment Band

WO1 (BM) Matt Simons is the new Bandmaster for The Band and Corps of Drums of The Royal Gibraltar Regiment.

WO1 (BM) Oliver Jeans officially passed the Baton to WO1 Simons before leaving Gibraltar to take on the appointment of Bandmaster for The Royal Regiment of Scotland Band based in Edinburgh.

WO1 Simons was previously the Bandmaster for The Band of The Corps of Royal Engineers serving in Chatham, Kent. He moved to Gibraltar two weeks ago with his wife Catherine and their two daughters Katie (5) and Sophie (3).

With a number of relatives serving in the Forces, there was never any doubt in WO1 Simons’ mind that he would one day join the Military, he said:

“I wanted to join the Army from a very young age, I had a number of family members serving in the Military. I specifically remember that my uncle was a musician in the Lincolnshire Regiment during the 1960’s and 1970’s, these family connections really helped to shape and influence my choices as an adult.”

WO1 Simons joined the Corps of Army Music in 1999 at the age of 18. Following Phase 1 Basic Military Training he spent a year at the Royal Military College of Music where he learnt his trade. His first posting was to the Normandy Band of the Queens Division who were based in Catterick. Amazingly, his very first engagement was a detachment to the Royal Gibraltar Regiment Band where he assisted with the Remembrance Day Parade.

In 2009 when he was selected for the Student Bandmaster Course. On completion of the three-year course he was awarded a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Kingston University and was honoured to be appointed the Bandmaster of The Royal Engineers.

He said: “There have been numerous highlights in my career, but being appointed as Bandmaster was one of the biggest things for me, you work so hard and the course is a long hard slog, but it is very rewarding.”

WO1 Simons is now looking forward to leading the band and recruiting the next generation of musicians, he explains: “Recruitment is a high priority for me, we currently have a fantastic group of musicians, but we are always looking for new recruits to ensure the Band is as strong as possible.

“We have just taken on two new band members and would encourage anyone who has a keen interest in music to go along to the RG Recruiting Office on Line Wall Road to find out more about us and the financial incentives available.”

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