Warrant Officer 1 (Bandmaster) MP Grace LRSM AMusTCL RM

Martin Grace was born in West Bromwich. His earliest musical influence was his mother who was to be his music teacher first at Junior and then later at High School. At the age of 8 he started to learn euphonium but soon realised that it was too big to carry on the school bus and within a few weeks made the sensible decision to swap it for the cornet. Having moved to Stafford at the age of 10 he joined the Staffordshire Youth Brass Band, playing under the baton of Stuart Johnson initially on cornet and later Flugel Horn.

Following a successful audition Martin joined the Royal Marines Band Service at Deal, Kent in March 1985 studying the cornet and violin. On completion of training he was drafted for a short while to the Staff Band at the Royal Marines School of Music before moving in 1988 to the Commander in Chief (Fleet) Band based at RAF Northolt, West London.

Since 1992 Martin has been based in Portsmouth; during this time he has served on board HMY Britannia as a member of the Royal Yacht Band, on HMS Illustrious as the Royal Naval Volunteer Band Instructor, as an instructor at the Royal Marines School of Music and as a member of the Royal Marines Band Portsmouth.

In 1999 Martin was selected to attend the Bandmasters Course during which he studied composition with Martin Ellerby and Gordon Langford and conducting with Malcolm Binney. He was subsequently awarded two diplomas - an Associate in Music from Trinity College London for theory and a Licentiate, with distinction, from the Royal Schools of Music for conducting. He was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer 1 in 2007, taking up the position of Bandmaster at the Royal Marines School of Music at HMS Nelson.  In June 2009 he took up his present appointment as Bandmaster of the Royal Marines Band Portsmouth.

Martin lives in Portsmouth with his wife Carolyn and their daughter Lucy.

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Last updated 15 September 2009