Live in concert again! On November 6, 2022 the Band of The Royal Regiment of Canada and some special guests – including the wonderful Danielle Bourré – return to Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto for a Sunday afternoon concert of band music and song. If you’ve been to any of our four annual Glenn Gould Studio concerts in “the before time”, you‘ll be excited to get back to our live band music. If you haven’t, come out to one of Canada’s finest concert halls and see why live music is best! Tickets at PasseMuraille.ca/tickets, scroll to “get tickets”

 

 

The Band of The Royal Regiment of Canada

The Band of the Royal Regiment of Canada is the oldest permanently organized band in Canada. Based at Fort York in Toronto, it has represented its country, province, and city throughout the world since 1863.

The Regiment evolved from the 10th Royal Grenadiers and thus inherits traditions of the British Army. Queen Victoria authorized the Regiment to wear the scarlet uniform of the Brigade of Guards on ceremonial occasions. Today the Regiment is a reserve unit in 32 Brigade and an active part of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Some highlights of the Band’s history:

  • August 2022 performance at the observance of the 80th anniversary of the raid on Dieppe, at Dieppe Park in Toronto.
  • Canada Day 2022 performance at the beautiful Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, as part of the Rhythms of Canada Festival.
  • Performance at the celebration of the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in June 2022 at the Aga Khan Museum, hosted by The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.
  • A pop-up concert at the Distillery Historic District in Toronto to celebrate Canada Day 2019. This arts, culture and entertainment centre is the site of the Gooderham & Worts distillery, which has special resonance for the Regiment as Sir Albert Edward Gooderham was Commanding Officer of our predecessors the 10th Royal Grenadiers. The Band’s scarlet tunics and bearskin caps were perfect for the Distillery’s beautiful 19th-century streetscape. The audience rocked out to 20th-century marches, classic Canadian pop songs, and 21st-century dance music.
  • Canada Day 2018 at Kingsbrae Garden in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. After a parade through the town, the Band performed a Canada Day concert at the beautiful new amphitheatre at KIRA, the Kingsbrae International Residency for the Arts.
  • Ringing in Canada’s 150th birthday at Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor General in Ottawa, on July 1, 2017 for the King (our Colonel-in-Chief) and the Queen Consort (then HRH the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall) and the Rt. Hon. David Johnston, the Governor General.
  • Performances over the years for the HM he King, HM Queen Elizabeth II, HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, HRH the Princess Royal, and HRH the Duke of York.
  • International appearances have included: performances for the United Nations in Cyprus; the Military Musical Pageant, held at Wembley Stadium, in London, England; a command performance for our Colonel-In-Chief, then Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, in the Gardens of Buckingham Palace; and being selected as the official band to accompany the veterans and the official party to the United Kingdom and France to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the raid on Dieppe August 19, 1942.

The Band has traveled in Canada from Gander, Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia with many performances in between – including the launching of the ship the “Hector” in Pictou, Nova Scotia, the Summerside Tattoo in Prince Edward Island, and the 2000 International Military Festival of Music in Quebec City. In addition there have been numerous trips to America to participate in events such as the historic Fort Ticonderoga Tattoo and The Rochester International Marine Tattoo in New York State, the TRADOC Military Tattoo in Fort Monroe, Virginia, and the renowned Stone Mountain Highland Games Military Tattoo in Atlanta, Georgia.

The band’s recordings have been met with enthusiastic response and won wide critical acclaim.

The Director of Music is Captain Kevin Anderson CD.

The Drum Major is Sergeant Yang Wang CD.

The Band Sergeant Major is Warrant Officer Sheila Andrews CD.

The band appears by the kind permission of our Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Martinis, CD.

Band photo
The Royal Regiment of Canada Band – Photo taken at Scarborough Civic Centre in December 2004

Regimental History

The Royal Regiment of Canada was formed in 1936 by the amalgamation of the 10th Royal Grenadiers and the Toronto Regiment. The Royals trace their roots back to March 1862 when a battalion of volunteers was formed in anticipation of an American invasion following the American Civil War. Called out in June 1866, the battalion marched from Toronto to Fort Erie to meet the invading Fenians, who withdrew before The Royals arrived. The Regiment gained its first battle experience in the North West Rebellion in 1885, after making a gruelling march from Toronto to 800 miles west of Winnipeg. At Batoche, in Saskatchewan, it led a bayonet charge that ended the rebel stand. Fifteen years later, it dispatched a company to serve with the Royal Canadian Regiment in the Boer War.

During the First World War, the Royal Grenadiers raised the 58th, 123rd, 170th, and 204th Battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). The 58th served in the trenches from early 1916 to the end of the war. Corporal H.G.B. Miner of the 58th was as awarded the Victoria Cross. The Toronto Regiment was formed in August 1914 as the 3rd Battalion CEF and went into the trenches in February 1915. Two of its members, Cpl C. Barron and Lt G.F. Kerr, won Victoria Crosses.

The Royal Regiment of Canada was called to active duty in September 1939 as the Second World War began. During the summer of 1940, it was garrisoned in Iceland (a strategic submarine and air base) to defend against possible of Nazi attack. In 1940, it moved to England in anticipation of a threatened invasion. Two years later, the Royals were part of the raid at Dieppe where they suffered the highest casualties of any unit.

After considerable rebuilding and retraining, the Regiment landed again in France in July 1944. Fighting near Caen it helped close the Falaise Gap, ending the Battle of Normandy. The Royals then fought up the Channel coast, through Holland and Belgium and into Germany. During this period, and with great sacrifice, the Regiment earned 20 battle honours.

The active service battalion was disbanded in December 1945. At that time The Regiment reverted to Reserve status and is a team of citizen soldiers from all walks of life. The Regiment is based at Fort York Armoury in Toronto. Part of The Regiment’s mission is to train and provide soldiers in support of for the Regular Force. Members of the Regiment have served with UN peacekeeping forces and with Canadian Forces Humanitarian Assistance Missions in Bosnia, Cambodia, Croatia, Cyprus, Haiti, Kosovo, Namibia, and the Golan Heights. In Canada, members of the Regiment deployed and provided assistance during the Winnipeg flood of 1997, over a 100 soldiers deployed to Eastern Ontario after the Ice Storm of 1998, and others during the Snow Storm that crippled Toronto in 1999. The Regiment has also sent members to Afghanistan and continues to represent Canada on various interational security operations with our allied countries.

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