A TALENTED musician from Cam has spoken about his career and role in the Coronation and Queen’s Funeral as part of a new campaign.
Lance Corporal Ian Walshaw who previously went to Rednock School has expressed his pride playing for King Charles as part of the Coronation procession earlier this year in May.
Ian is a ceremonial musician with the British Army Band Sandhurst, where he plays the Euphonium, and has also played at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
He was one of 40 musicians from the Sandhurst band who took part in the Coronation, as well as 750 other army musicians, which was watched by millions around the world.
He has spoken out now as part of a new video released by the British Army to highlight his role.
Ian’s interest in music began as a child, when his mother Sue encouraged him to join a recorder club at the age of five.
He eventually joined the Rednock Band after watching his uncle play the Euphonium and cousins play the Trombone and Cornet.
After graduating with a Bachelor in Music from the University of Hull in 2014, he went on to study for his Masters at the University of Huddersfield.
There he was recruited by a friend in the Army Reserves for The Band of The Royal Yorkshire Regiment, where he played the French Horn.
Lance Corporal Walshaw then moved to the Waterloo Band and Bugles of the Rifles in 2017, which gave him the chance to travel the world playing music
After spending five years in the Army Reserve, he joined the regular army and transferred to British Army Band Sandhurst in February 2020.
He said: “The best part of Coronation Day was seeing how the British public came together in common celebration for a once in a lifetime event.
“The atmosphere for a performing musician was incredible. It certainly isn’t an opportunity you’d get as a civilian!
“It was just an amazing event to be a part of and all the bands were involved. Just the scale of the event, it was absolutely brilliant.
“In particular when we finished the parade and we marched through to the Buckingham Palace Gardens with His Majesty taking the salute as we played the national anthem to him.
“That’s certainly a memory I will remember forever.”
LCpl Walshaw also has a secondary role within the army operating a Chemical Decontamination Unit attached to a field hospital.
In the future, he says he would love to be accepted onto the British Army Bandmaster Course and eventually become a Royal Corps of Army Music (RCAM) Director of Music.
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