This year, I’ll return to the Somme, France, to sing remembrance ceremonies at the Ulster Tower, Northern Ireland’s national war memorial, and the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, organized by the Somme Association and the Royal British Legion.

In the afternoon, I will join the West Yorkshire Police Band at CWGC Tyne Cot cemetery in Belgium, where nearly 12,000 soldiers are buried, 8,369 of whom are unknown. A memorial wall lists the names of the missing soldiers.

The violence in the world today worries me deeply, and I hope that by pausing to take in the cost of war, we may also pause if we feel hatred or anger towards others and instead try to find peaceful solutions.