March to the Everest – Military March by Captain Sunil Gurung
This march was selected as part of the Royal Corps of Army Music (RCAM) 30 Legacy Recordings. And has been formally recognised as the official march for the Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas. The composer is the current Assistant Director of Music of the Gurkha Band, Captain Sunil Gurung. We asked him about the composition.
“March to the Everest” is a composition I wrote. I used my composition skills gained on the Bandmaster course at the Royal Military School of Music, to combine two Nepali folk tunes to form a traditional military march. This march is very versatile as it can be used at light Division pace, the traditional pace for the Gurkha Band to march at, but also at heavy pace for other occasions. For those from Nepal, they will also recognise the folk tunes which are very popular in Nepal.
You can listen to the march on the Link below.
Captain Sunil Gurung enlisted into the Brigade of Gurkhas on 19 January 2001 in Pokhara. After completing his basic training with the award of Career Employment Group (CEG) champion recruit at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick, he joined The Band of The Brigade of Gurkhas in November 2000.
In 2005, he was selected to attend the Foundation Course at Royal Military School of Music where he attained the Trade Employment Qualification (TEQ) Class 3. He was awarded the ‘Adjutant Prize’ and ‘Best All Round’ Sports Personality of the year in 2006. On his return to the Band, he took up the position of bass drummer.
In 2016, Captain Sunil was selected to attend the prestigious Musical Direction Course at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall. He was awarded a Bandmaster qualification, Licentiate of the Royal School of Music (LRSM) in music direction and Band Management Prize in 2019. After completing the Bandmaster course, he was appointed as the first Gurkha Bandmaster in November 2019.
During his 23 years’ service, he has toured extensively with the Band to Nepal, Brunei, France, Germany, Holland, Austria, Belgium, Luxemburg, Monaco, Canada, Cyprus, The United States of America, Jersey Island, Malaysia, and India. He also deployed on Operations to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2001, Afghanistan in 2002, Corps of Army Music (CAMUS now RCAM) short term training team (STTT) to Ethiopia in 2008 and CAMUS STTT to Gibraltar in 2015.
Captain Sunil was commissioned on 4 Jul 2022 and has the honour to be Assistant Director of Music (ADOM) of the Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas.
