“If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep...”
“In Flanders Fields,” by John McCrae
REMEMBRANCE
I sing at remembrance ceremonies and events worldwide: for embassies, charities working with veterans, and at private ceremonies organised by the families of fallen service men and women.
My clients include the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the American Battle Monuments Commission, Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge, the Gurkha Welfare Trust, the Royal British Legion, the Somme Association, and the Dutch Veteranen Instituut.
Singing at remembrance ceremonies is a humbling experience – an act of gratitude to those who risked all they had in order to bring peace, and for the victims of war.
Remembrance ceremonies remind us of the price we paid for the relative freedom in which we live today.
“Freedom isn’t free.”
Colonel Ryan Gremillion, New Mexico Military Institute
Highlights of my work include singing during the first ever collaboration of the bands of the Royal Irish Regiment (U.K.) and Defence Forces Ireland. This marked the centenary of the Ulster Tower memorial in France, which commemorates the fallen in the Battle of the Somme. It was a symbolic event since the Irish and Ulster men fought and died side by side and they were commemorated by military musicians playing side by side.
During the seventy-fifth anniversary of the D-Day landings, I sang with the Central Band of the Royal British Legion for veterans in the presence of King Charles and Queen Camilla, and with the Central Band of the Royal Air Force. In other years, I sang in Normandy with the Band of the Yorkshire Regiment and the Band of Liberation and Pipes.
For the centenary of the First World War, I sang at the official U.S. commemoration at Flanders Field American Cemetery in Belgium with the SHAPE Band of NATO.
I sang with the Royal Band of the Belgian Air Force at the one hundredth anniversary of the Menin Gate at a ceremony organised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. In other years, I sang at the Menin Gate on British Remembrance Day with the West Yorkshire Police Band.
I sang during the historic ceremony at the German cemetery in Ysselsteyn, the Netherlands, when, for the first time, the Dutch Chief Rabbi was present.
In the Netherlands, I have also worked with the Royal Military Band “Johan Willem Friso,” the Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Orchestra of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, and the band of the Grenadiers’ and Rifles Regiment. I sang at the International Military Pilgrimage in Lourdes with the Fanfare Bereden Wapens for over 25,000 catholic military and their supporters.
I’ve sung for Second World War veterans on HMS Victory and on the Royal Yacht Britannia for the Spirit of Normandy Trust and D-Day Revisited.
Here are some examples of my singing for remembrance and veterans.
A short film about Erna Abramowitz, to mark 75 Years of the Oorlogsgravenstichting, the Dutch War Graves Commission.
Westerbork, the Netherlands.
Singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” for the US Mission to the EU on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
Brussels, Belgium.
With the bands of the Royal Irish Regiment and Defence Forces Ireland in their first joint concert.
Albert, France.
Marking 90 years of the CWGC Menin Gate.
Ypres, Belgium.
At the official D-Day remembrance ceremony, with the Band of The Yorkshire Regiment.
Bayeux, France.
At the U.S. cemetery in Margraten, singing for U.S., Canadian, and British veterans.
Margraten, the Netherlands.
For a virtual remembrance ceremony for the Battle of Arras, during the 2020 COVID pandemic.
Arras, France.
From a broadcast about Anne Frank for Dutch Liberation Day.
Leiden, the Netherlands.
