2009 France Anzac Day tour

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In 2009, Unley Concert Band toured France and Belgium. The band played at a number of commemorative events including:

  • the Anzac Day Dawn Service and street march in Villers-Bretonneux
  • marching to the Menin Gate in Ypres
  • Anzac Day services in Bullecourt
  • marching down the Champs Elysees in Paris to the Arc de Triomphe (an honour usually only afforded to French service bands)
  • a formal concert at the Cathedral Saint-Louis des Invalides
  • an afternoon concert series at the Madeleine Church
  • a joint concert with the Amiens Brass Band in Amiens.

“I was present at the Menin Gate ceremony on Saturday 18 April when the Unley Concert Band participated. I was impressed both by their playing and, most appropriately in that setting, their bearing. The final counter-marching and Waltzing Matilda was carried off with great verve and swagger. Well done.” – Bob Morris, London