Director of Music - Bandmaster - Band Sergeant Major

Director Of Music

Major Graham Jones MBE MMus FTCL ARCM psm

Major Jones originally started his military career studying the Harp under the world renowned Harpist, Maria Kachinska, whilst serving as a musician in the Royal Artillery Band.
In 1981 Graham was selected to become a Bandmaster, attending the Royal Military School Of Music Kneller Hall for three years. The culmination of his efforts produced prizes` for composition and orchestration.
His first appointment upon leaving Kneller Hall was that of Bandmaster 16th/5th The Queens Royal Lancers. Options for Change within the British Army in 1993 saw many regiments amalgamated, of which the Queens Royal Lancers became one. As a result of this, Graham was made a Member of the British Empire for his outstanding services to the Regiment. After this successful period he was posted as Bandmaster to The Royal Highland Fusiliers.

In 1994 he was commissioned to the rank of Captain and with it an appointment as Director of Music, The Lowland Band of the Scottish Division.

In 1997 he moved to The Band Of The Light Division where he helped provide musical support in Bosnia and was later to command the Band through its deployment to Kosovo, during the Balkans conflict.

Three years later, Major Jones was posted to Headquarters Army Music, as Officer Commanding the Training and Development Team. Whilst in charge, he was instrumental in pioneering the Army Accreditation Programme, linked to Trinity College of Music London.

Graham is married to Susan and has a daughter Claudia, he is also an accomplished arranger and orchestrater for modern windband and has many pieces to his name, including many contemporary works.

In August 2001 Major Jones was appointed the Director of Music, Coldstream Guards, a position unequalled in British Military Music.

BANDMASTER

WO1(BM) Gregory Machin  BMus (Hons) ALCM

WO1 (BM) Gregory Machin joined the Army in 1991 and served with the Peninsula band of the Royal Green Jackets as a flautist based at Connaught Barracks in Dover – Kent.

 Early in 1992 he was posted to the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall to attend a musicians’ course where he studied the flute under the tutelage of Graham Mayger and the piano under Veronica Clayton. Early in 1993 he was posted back to the band in Dover and took post as principal flautist until the bands disbandment in April of 1994 when he was posted to the Band of the Light Division.

In September 2000 Gregory was selected to attend the Student Bandmaster course at Kneller hall graduating in August 2003 with an upper second class honours degree in music and two competition prizes.

 In September of 2003 Gregory was appointed as Bandmaster to the Prince of Wales’s Division (Lucknow) Band where he served until August of 2006 before being appointed as bandmaster to the Band of the Coldstream Guards.

In his spare time Gregory enjoys golf and Taekwon-do. He is married to Julie and they have a teenage daughter – Rebecca.  

WO2 (BSM) Arron Travis

 Warrant Officer Class Two Arron Travis was appointed Band Sergeant Major of the prestigious Coldstream Guards Band in April 2007. Before his appointment to the Coldstream Guards Band he had served with the Grenadier Guards Band for seventeen years as principle euphonium.

Arron was born in Stalybridge, CheshireEngland. At an early age he started to play euphonium for his school brass band and at the age of fourteen was performing with the Championship Section Stalybridge Brass Band, the Oldest Brass Band in the world, although some would contest this.

His interest is in the natural and an environmental science, brass bands, wind band music, classical music and at the moment is studying for his Masters in Musical Performance.

When Arron is not being a Band Sergeant Major, he spends time with his family and walking his dog Griff around the rolling ‘Green and Pleasant Land’ of Nottinghamshire where he lives with his wife Rachel and his son, William.