Lt. Col. Jase Burcham
- Biographical Information
Lieutenant Colonel Jase Burcham joined the Royal Marines as a pianist and cornet player at the Royal Marines School of Music, Deal, in 1986. Following training he was assigned as an instrumentalist in the Bands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines: Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM); School of Music; Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command; and Her Majesty’s Yacht BRITANNIA. Onboard BRITANNIA he performed with the Band for historic commemorations such as the 50th anniversary of D-Day, and State Visits including Russia and South Africa. Assigned to the Royal Marines School of Music (relocated to Portsmouth) as Piano Instructor, he was selected to attend the Bandmasters Course for which he was awarded the Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians. In 2000 Jase was promoted to WO2 Bandmaster to lead a specially formed RM Band to deploy on operations with 3 Commando Brigade to Kosovo, during which he successfully passed the Admiralty Interview Board and was subsequently commissioned in April 2001.His training as Director of Music was at Trinity College of Music in Greenwich where he studied conducting under tuition of Peter Stark and the mentorship of Tadaaki Otaka and Sir Charles MacKerras. Jase was also selected to represent Trinity College at the Erasmus Conducting Course in Lithuania and was recipient of the Ricordi Conducting Prize before qualifying for his Master of Music Degree. He has since been appointed as Director of Music to the Bands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, CTCRM and Plymouth, and was the founder Director of Music for the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Collingwood. He has also held staff appointments in the Headquarters Band Service, the Directorate Royal Marines as Corps Casualty Officer, and deployed on operations to Afghanistan as Adjutant of the United Kingdom Joint Force Medical Group. In recent appointments he has been instrumental in there structure of the Royal Marines Band Service and strategic planning for Defence Music including a combined training school with the Corps of Army Music. He was promoted Lieutenant Colonel in August 2018 and assumed command of the Royal Marines Band Service in 2020.He is a staunch advocate for the powerful effect of military music and how Royal Marines Bands can be a positive influence for Britain. He lives in the Portsmouth area with his wife, Veryan. In his spare time, Jase is attempting to rebuild his faithful old Land Rover, albeit with no mechanical knowledge or experience. When asked if he tuned the car himself, he replied that at 50 mph it seems to sound a concert F!