Each year, ANZAC and Remembrance Day ceremonies are made extra poignant by the memorable sounds of a live bugler playing
the Last Post.
Unfortunately, there is currently a shortage of musicians willing to volunteer as many find performing at these ceremonies to be a daunting and nerve-wracking task.
This can lead event organisers to resort to a pre-recorded Last Post for these culturally significant days in the Australian calendar.
East Gippsland Music is looking to address this bugle player shortage by promoting their free ‘Last Post Workshop’. An initiative designed to empower trumpet and cornet players with the skills and confidence to volunteer to play for RSL clubs, nursing homes, their schools or sports clubs.
This ‘Last Post Workshop’ will be held over two sessions, held a fortnight apart, with the first introductory session scheduled for Saturday, March 14, at 1pm, in the band room located at Picnic Point Hall, Bairnsdale, with a follow-up session on March 28 to polish what has
been learnt.
Retired Defence Musician, and music educator with 36 years experience, Bill Vincent, will lead the workshop, teaching the participants to look and sound their best on the big day. Advice will be given not only on how to play the Last Post, Reveille and Rouse, but also on managing nerves, what to wear and how to count the minute silence.
East Gippsland Music is also excited to announce that they will have a current-serving Royal Australian Navy Bugler attend the ‘Polish’ session. Able Seaman Musician Luke Glasson of RAN Band Melbourne will perform the bugle calls and then break them down so the workshop participants can learn by example.
Able Seaman Glasson has vast experience as a bugler and has performed bugle calls in Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Indonesia, France, The MCG, The Shrine of Remembrance and The Australian War Memorial.
East Gippsland Music would like to thank the Bairnsdale RSL for their encouragement and support to cover promotion and catering costs.
It is hoped that participants will finish the workshop with the confidence to volunteer at a ceremony local to them, and for East Gippsland Music to be a source for event organisers, holding a contact list of available players.
The workshop is open to any current trumpet or cornet player ranging from grade five primary school students to adults. The workshop is equally for those who have some experience performing bugle calls, and also for those who have never performed the calls, East Gippsland Music looks forward to welcoming them all. The two, two-hour workshops are free of cost and there will be a mid-session break with light snacks provided.
