Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

On 18 October 2011, the Royal Australian Navy Band deployed to Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province in inland China. It was the third overseas deployment by the Navy Band in that year:
The first was to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for the International Defence Exhibition
The second was to Brunei to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.
Each of these three deployments supported Australia's soft diplomacy efforts: Music really is the universal language of mankind.
The deployment to the Nanchang International Tattoo was a magnificent cultural opportunity for us, which came about as a result of links forged between myself and the Director of Music of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army - Navy (PLA-N) Band, Senior Colonel Li Xing. These links were developed during visits to Australia by PLA Navy Bands that were embarked in Chinese warships. This relationship was enhanced when I deployed a small element of the Navy Band to Beijing in 2009.

The Nanchang International Tattoo featured 17 bands from around the world, and our Navy Band comprised 51 musicians. Our first engagement was a joint concert with the Chinese PLA-N Band at the National Radio and Television Centre. Able Seaman Damian Dowd joined with the PLA-N Band vocalist to sing the beautiful traditional Chinese song 'Azalea', and Able Seaman Svetlana Yaroslavskaya performed the haunting flute solo 'Home Away From Home'. We featured Leading Seaman Martyn Hancock's march 'The Scrap Iron Flotilla' and concluded our concert with 'The Alert March and 'Beat to Quarters', which showcased our semaphore party. You can see the Navy Band's performance by following the links:

Half Moon Climbs Up The Sky
The Scrap Iron Flotilla
Home Away From Home
The Grey Gladiator
The Alert March and Beat to Quarters
The Nanchang International Tattoo was held in the newly completed ‘birds nest’ International Sports Stadium. Our performances were attended by thousands and broadcast by Hong Kong TV to millions of people! Our band’s involvement in the tattoo included our fanfare trumpeters performing in the opening sequence, our individual band marching display, then a massed band finale. Our marching display titled 'All Hands on Deck' consisted of marching drills to 'The Alert March', bugle calls and 'Beat to Quarters', a newly-formed Semaphore Party signalling the words ‘Nanchang, Hero City’, Cheer Ship, and the ever-popular fanfare, chorale, jazz and parade versions of Waltzing Matilda. You can view the performance here: https://youtu.be/Cx3_0e_kOag


We also performed as a massed band during a wreath laying ceremony at the August 1st 1927 Nanchang Uprising Monument in Ba Yi Square. Military music has always been important in Nanchang and this was nobly demonstrated at this service, playing Chinese anthems and marching songs of the Motherland to the applause of many people in the square. The ceremony was followed by one of the longest street marches in recent times – 2.5 kilometres down Zhongshan Lu to the former Communist Party Headquarters building. The parade route was lined with many thousands of citizens who showed great appreciation and support for the parade.

The final performance of the tattoo was in the courtyard of Tengwang Pavilion, first built about 2,000 years ago on the banks of the Gan River. Our performance was warmly received by the large audience, who gave an exceptionally rousing applause when we gave three cheers, in Chinese, for Nanchang, Hero City of China. The tattoo concluded with an amazing ten minute firework display right above our heads, and many band members said it was one of the most unforgettable performances ever. Our performances in China were carried out with a high level of professionalism and enthusiasm, which showcased the Navy Band’s capability to the world.


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's words, 'Music is the universal language of mankind form part of the collective memory of all those who deployed with the Navy Band to this fantastic tattoo.
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