Royal Military School of Music

The RMSM was established in 1857 at the instigation of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, who was Queen Victoria's cousin and commander-in-chief of the army. In 1854, during the Crimean War, he attended a parade in Scutari, Turkey to celebrate the Queen's birthday, when about 20 British Army bands on parade were required to combine in a performance of the national anthem. The custom at this time was for regiments to hire civilian bandmasters, each of whom had free rein in their band's instrumentation and arrangements. With each band playing God Save the Queen simultaneously in different instrumentations, pitches, arrangements and key signatures, the result was an embarrassing and humiliating…

In November 2023 the Princess Royal opened a new combined training facility at Portsmouth for the Royal Marines Band Service and the Royal Corps of Army Music, which has been named the Alford Schools of Military Music. It is located in the former Military Detention Quarters at HMS Nelson, which have served as the Royal Marines School of Music since 1996; the former cells provide a rehearsal space for each individual musician. It can accommodate up to a hundred musicians; on opening there was a 60% Royal Marine, 40% Army personnel split. RMSM recruits are auditioned before joining the Army. After completing basic training, they spend (on average) a year at Portsmouth. As well as developing…