Warrant Officer 1 Bandmaster Dean Waller BMus(Hons) LRSM RM

Dean joined the Royal Marines Band Service in 1986 at Deal in Kent studying the Oboe and Cor Anglais with John Williams.  On completion of training he was drafted to the Commando Training Centre Band at Lympstone in Devon where he performed extensively throughout the UK, Europe and the USA.
In 1992 he was appointed as the Principal Oboist of the then Flag Officer Plymouth Band, which later became the Royal Marines Band Plymouth. Highlights from this period included several acclaimed recordings made at the Abbey Road Studios in London and the subsequent award of Best Instrumentalist in the Plymouth Band during 1994. In that same year, Dean was promoted to Band Corporal.

At the beginning of 1996 he was drafted to the Portsmouth Royal Marines Band and was again fortunate enough to travel the World performing in Hong Kong, Thailand, Canada, Scandinavia and the USA.  During this period he also had the privilege of playing at the 1997 FA Cup Final at Wembley.

At the end of 1997 he was appointed as the Oboe Instructor at the Royal Marines School of Music in Portsmouth. Whilst there he qualified for the rank of Band Sergeant and successfully completed the fifteen-week M1 course at the Higher Training Department within the School of Music.

After a short draft back to Plymouth Band, he was selected to attend the year-long Warrant Officer Bandmasters' Course in April 1999 and subsequently qualified as a Royal Marines Bandmaster, with a Licentiate Diploma in Bandmastership from the Royal Schools of Music, in May 2000.
Following the Bandmasters' course, he returned to Portsmouth Band and enjoyed two very successful years of performing, arranging and conducting at a variety of engagements including many Royal events. 
In addition to his work with the Portsmouth Band, Dean undertook a period of study at Chichester University graduating, in June 2001, with a Bachelor of Music Degree.

In 2002 he was promoted to the rank of Band Colour Sergeant whilst deployed aboard HMS Ark Royal in Malta, and on his return was seconded for Operation Fresco during the Firemen’s Strike of 2002.
Dean then returned to Plymouth Band in early 2003 until June 2004 when he was appointed as the Volunteer Band Instructor of the Devonport Royal Naval Volunteer Band at HMS Drake in Plymouth.

In April 2005 Dean was promoted to Warrant Officer Second Class and consequently drafted to the Royal Marines School of Music as Warrant Officer Training.  One year later he successfully passed the selection board for Royal Marines Warrant Officer First Class and returned once again to Plymouth Band.

Dean proudly assumed his current position as Bandmaster of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Band Scotland in March 2007.

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Last updated: 29 Feb 2008