Publication:Sea Talk Summer 2008/A musical Long Look
Twenty-one young Australians ranging in rank from able seaman to lieutenant flew out of Australia on April 17 en route to three-month exchange postings in the UK.
They’d been matched with counterparts in RN ships and establishments and were part of the popular and continuing Exchange Program Long Look that gives suitable sailors and junior officers an opportunity to sample how another service works and plays.
Two of the ‘players’ this year were musicians – the Officer-in-Charge of the Sydney Detachment of the RAN Band, LEUT Andrew Stokes, and bassoonist and percussionist POMUSN Cassie Mohapp.
PO Mohapp, a veteran of 11 years in the RAN, did a good deal of research on what to expect with the bands with which she’d be working.
A former teacher with a degree in music and diplomas in music and teaching, PO Mohapp also took time to brush up a bit on her German because she planned to visit relatives in Austria on her own time before returning to Sydney. In her post-Long Look report she said:
It was important to know the respective band leaders and also a little of their history, and also how I was going to fit in. I left Sydney airport with high expectations of myself, and also the organisation where I was to spend the next three months.
After arriving safely in Portsmouth on Thursday 24 April 2008 we literally got back in the car the next day to drive five hours up to Manchester to do a concert with the cast from Coronation Street with Her Majesty’s Royal Marine Band - Scotland. The concert was a charity event and was held at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.
The band was great and certainly knew how to make us Aussies feel very welcome – although it was impossible to enjoy their abundance of hospitality with pint after pint after pint! We traveled back down to Portsmouth the day after the concert, Saturday April 268. We sadly missed out on ANZAC Day in London but the concert in Manchester was certainly a lot of fun.
Three weeks working with Her Majesty’s Royal Marine Band – Portsmouth gave us some wonderful performance opportunities. Lieutenant Andrew Stokes conducted, and I performed with the band in Dorking and Sonning on Thames and we enjoyed many other performances in Eastbourne, and Fareham.
We then travelled to Plymouth and worked with Her Majesty’s Royal Marine Band at HMS Raleigh. We performed in Coldrose for a wings parade and Lieutenant Andrew Stokes conducted the band for the welcome home parade for HMS Campbelltown in HMS Drake.
We managed to see some of the beautiful countryside in Cornwall before heading off to Lympstone to work with Her Majesty’s Royal Marine Band in Exmouth. We had the pleasure of performing in the Saint Mary Magdalene Church in Taunton, a church built in the 13th century. We also performed in a graduation parade for the newest commando recruits.
I was able to spend some time with the Royal Marine Band School of Music giving tutorials and workshops which was extremely rewarding. It was interesting to see the similarities of how our Australian Defence Force School of Music runs musicianship courses and how the Royal Marines School of Music manages and conducts their business. Our time with the staff and students from the Royal Marines School of Music finished with a performance for an open day at Whale Island, Portsmouth.
We joined the Royal Marine Band - Scotland on Monday July 14 and worked with them in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. We observed the band doing beat retreats in Liverpool and Sunderland, and began rehearsals with them two weeks later for the EMT.
LEUT Stokes conducted the band in the opening fanfare sequence and I played military side drum for the opening fanfare sequence. We are in the process of determining whether Australian Defence Force musicians have ever performed in the EMT and the historic significance associated with this is truly magnificent.
This was a truly amazing experience and it highlighted a few things to me.
Firstly, it confirmed in my mind that the work we do in the Royal Australian Navy Band rates us significantly as one of the best military bands in the world.
Secondly, that given the opportunity to perform on an international stage like the Edinburgh Military Tattoo would concrete our amazing reputation on an international level.
And thirdly, it’s okay to shed a few tears of excitement when you are performing in a venue where you have only ever dreamed of performing! It was an extraordinary experience and one I will never forget.
On both a professional and personal level, I think the most valuable experience during Long Look Exchange 2008 was the realization that what we do, how we do it, and what we achieve in the Royal Australian Navy Band is massively significant and of an incredibly high standard.
The level of musicianship we employ and the resources we have, make us an enviable employment option for any musician both domestically and internationally. And I guess it’s not until you see how other bands operate from around the world you realize just how amazing your own band is having the exposure to military bands from other countries really did confirm my belief that the Royal Australian Navy Band not only enjoys a highly respected reputation domestically, but also internationally. Numerous enquiries made by other musicians into the process of joining the RAN Band have confirmed my belief that I have the best job in the world.
PO Mohapp thanked the RAN Director of Music, LCDR Philip Anderson, and the Long Look team, in particular CPO Margaret Nason and WO Jeff Argoon, for allowing her to participate in the exchange program.
“It was a wonderful opportunity and I do feel privileged to have been part of it,” she said.
