The Royal New Zealand Navy Band is coing to town to perform pop hits from throughout the generations on Monday, April 20, in a free concert at Mount Maunganui.

The concert, to be held outdoors at Te Papa o Ngā Manu Porotakataka in the middle of the Mount, will be a pre-Anzac Day treat to the ears of passersby, the band’s leading musician Philip Wiley said.

“Being a concert band, we play flute, clarinet, saxophones, French horns, euphonium, trumpets, trombones and tubas, as well as percussion instruments and we have a rhythm section, with keyboards and bass guitars.”

Wiley said the Navy Band is a travelling band – and this trip would have 21 members, including 20 musicians and Lieutenant Left Commander Jan Peterson in charge.

“Defence diplomacy and community engagement is basically what we exist to do. We’re the public face of the Navy and we get out and entertain communities regularly.”

Wiley said the reason the band would play in Mount Maunganui is because they will be on their way to Whakatāne for a charter parade of a land-based Navy unit there. “We’re going to do a parade through the streets there so we’re stopping off in Tauranga on the way.”

For the Mount concert, the band will play pop music with a few marches mixed in. “We try to play pop hits that people recognise and know – all the easy-listening music.”

The earliest music would be the old marches, Wiley said. “They would have been a pop hit, if you may, in the early 1900s.”

The band is based at the Royal New Zealand Navy’s base in Auckland, the Devonport Naval Base, but members are from all over Aotearoa, or are New Zealand citizens or permanent residents, Wiley said.

“The youngest member is still 18 or 19 and our oldest is pushing 65.”

Wiley said the Navy Band exist to provide musical support to the Navy, Defence Force and the Government for a range of ceremonial events and concerts around New Zealand.

“We’re a fulltime band, so we practice and perform regularly.”

With the April 20 concert being held outside, those interested are advised to keep watch on the event’s Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/events/34025033483807311 in case wet weather causes a cancellation.

Wiley said the Navy Band was hosting an evening concert at Tauranga Boys’ College (TBC) on Tuesday, April 21 from 7pm.

“Here we’re combining with students from both TBC and Bethlehem College, after doing an afternoon workshop with them.

“It’s also a free concert with donations accepted to go towards the TBC Arts department and the Papamoa War Memorial Community Trust.