Musician

Overview

As a member of the military, Musicians provide musical support for all aspects of military life, including ceremonial parades, military graduations, and ship ceremonies. They provide quality music designed to support Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operations, foster morale and esprit de corps, and promote Canadian aesthetics and values, both nationally and abroad.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Perform for a wide array of domestic and international engagements such as government and military parades and ceremonies, public concerts, shows and festivals, public events, and military and state dinners.
• Perform as instrumentalists and conductors in various musical ensembles, including concert bands, parade band, stage bands, dance bands, pipe and drum bands, brass quintets, woodwind quintets, string quartets, jazz combos, and small chamber groups.

Musicians may perform worldwide representing CAF and Canadian citizens. Within the Regular Force, musicians work in diverse performing environments, from concert halls to ceremonial parades, across a range of bands:

• The Stadacona Band of the Maritime Forces Atlantic, Halifax, Nova Scotia
• The Naden Band of the Maritime Forces Pacific, Victoria, British Columbia
• The Royal Canadian Artillery Band, Edmonton, Alberta
• The Royal 22e Régiment Band, Courcelette, Quebec
• The Central Band of the Canadian Forces, Ottawa, Ontario
• The Royal Canadian Air Force Band, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Regular Force musicians are typically assigned to their first base after training and may relocate as required. Reserve musicians work part‑time in their local Reserve unit, with fewer relocation demands.

The CAF enrolls skilled musicians through a competitive blind audition process. Successful applicants are usually experienced professional musicians with a degree in Music Performance, a conservatory or university certification, or equivalent professional musical experience. Musicians must be multi‑talented performers with experience in several musical styles and the ability to adapt to diverse performance situations and audiences.

All musicians begin with the Basic Military Qualification course at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School. Following basic training, musicians can pursue specialized and advanced courses, such as:

• Voluntary Band Instructor
• Pipe Major course
• Pipe Drum Instructor course
• Drum Major course
• Basic scoring and conducting
• Intermediate scoring and conducting
• Advanced scoring and conducting

Part‑time Reserve musicians receive 92.8% of Regular Force rates of pay, a reasonable benefits package, and may qualify to contribute to a pension plan.