Warrant Officer 1 Bandmaster Simon Tripp BMus(Hons) LRSM AMusTCL CTABRSM RM

Simon spent his early childhood in his native county of Cornwall, but it was whilst a pupil at the Royal Hospital School, Holbrook that he discovered a talent for music. In September 1988 he joined the Royal Marines School of Music in Deal, Kent as a trombonist.  

He completed his training after two years and was drafted to the Royal Marines Band based at RAF Northolt, in London. A three year draft to Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth followed, and during this time he experienced his first trip abroad with the band to the USSR, and the making of two recordings. It was during his next posting to Plymouth Band that he passed the Junior Command Course, and on returning to Dartmouth Band in 1999 was promoted to Band Corporal.

In May 2001, Simon was appointed trombone instructor at the Royal Marines School of Music in Portsmouth and during his two years there he passed both the Senior Command Course and the Musician 1 (SQ) Course at Higher Training for which he was awarded the Malcolm Macdonald Prize for his arrangement. Subsequently, he was promoted to Band Sergeant and in 2003 was selected to attend the twelve month long intensive Warrant Officer Bandmasters’ Course, successfully gaining diplomas in conducting and music theory. He then returned to the School of Music as academic and trombone instructor, during which time he further developed his arranging and conducting skills whilst studying for a Bachelor of Music Honours Degree at Portsmouth University, graduating in the summer of 2006.

With promotion to Band Colour Sergeant, Simon had a draft back to the Royal Marines Band Plymouth just in time to join them on a ten day trip to Sydney, Australia.

In July 2007 he was promoted to Warrant Officer Class 2 Bandmaster and took up the position of Commitments Co-ordinator, organising and planning the programme for all the Royal Marines Bands from Headquarters Band Service in Portsmouth. Simon’s next posting took him north of the border to the Royal Marines Band Scotland; where he served as Bandmaster from April 2009 to December 2010. He was promoted to Warrant Officer Class 1 in July 2010.

Simon is a keen arranger of music for the Band Service and has produced pieces to be performed at the Royal Albert Hall for the Mountbatten Festival of Music.

Simon was appointed as the Bandmaster of The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Plymouth in January 2011. He currently lives in Plymstock with his wife Sarah and their son Harry.

Click here to download a high resolution photo of WO1 Tripp in Ceremonial Dress
Click here to download a high resolution photo of WO1 Tripp in Mess Dress

Last updated 1 March 2011