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A worldly performance: Ukrainian musicians join forces with the Royal Marines Band for the first time
24 March 2025
The world-famous Massed Bands of His Majesty’s Royal Marines played their spectacular annual showpiece at the Royal Albert Hall over the weekend for the 53rd year.
In front of a packed Royal Albert Hall, the Band – whose members are among the world’s finest military musicians – opened the show with the national anthem in honour of His Majesty the King, who is also Captain General of the Royal Marines.
The stunning night of pageantry recognised the special relationship between the UK and Ukraine, with a guest feature spot being performed by the Royal Marines Band Service (RMBS) and 11 Ukrainian military musicians. The ‘Unbreakable’ Band is formed of members of The Honored Academic Orchestra and The Band of the Military Musical Centre of the Land Forces, of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The evening saw the Ukrainian musicians and bands from Portsmouth, Collingwood, Scotland and Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM) come together with a moving performance of ‘The Rise of the Ukrainian Sun’, an arrangement of three traditional Ukrainian pieces.
Colonel Ihor Kishman, Chief of Ukrainian Armed Forces Music, said: “We are so proud to have performed in the UK and to have represented our Armed Forces to such an amazing audience.
“The Mountbatten Festival of Music has given us a wonderful opportunity to strengthen, celebrate and publicise the partnership between Ukraine and the UK through the universal language of music. Performing the music we play for our brave troops and civilians in this iconic venue has been wonderful. Friendship is also a universal language, and it has been a joy to make many new friends in the Royal Marines. We have had a great few days and now head back to Ukraine to continue our struggle assured that our musical and military bonds are stronger than ever.”We don’t speak each other’s language, but there are no such barriers in music and the performance came together brilliantly. Their courage, friendship and musicianship is inspiring to us all.
Throughout the evening, the band performed iconic pieces such as Bohemian Rhapsody, ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ and a medley ‘Curtain Call’ featuring music from the West End. The world-famous Corps of Drums performed ‘Impossible’ written by former Corps Bandmaster Ivan Hutchinson and featuring multi-instrumentalist and world-renowned Norwegian composer, Thomas Bergersen on stage with the Massed Bands.
Lieutenant Colonel Huw Williams RM, Principal Director of Music for RMBS, said: “We had a wide variety of styles and pieces at this year’s Mountbatten Festival of Music. Alongside the regular ceremonial pieces and modern arrangements, we also had an incredible collaboration with Thomas Bergersen, who performed a fantastic piece with us which was really exciting for all involved.
“We were particularly honoured to have Musicians from the Armed Forces of Ukraine with us this year.