Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus

The Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus (Belarusian: Ваенна-аркестравая служба Узброеных Сіл Рэспублікі Беларусь, Russian: Военно-оркестровая служба Вооруженных Сил Республики Беларусь) is the central military band service of the Armed Forces of Belarus. The band was formed on 1 April 1950 as the Band of the Belorussian Military District.[3] It was expanded into a service in the 1990s after the Independence of Belarus occurred. Its bands participate in military parades, military tattoos, and official ceremonies of Belarus.[3][4][5] They perform domestically, regularly performing in the Central Officers House in Minsk, as well as other garrison clubs. The massed bands of the Minsk Garrison is an annual participant in the parades of the Minsk Garrison on Victors Avenue since 2004.[6] The repertoire of the band includes more than 500 compositions of the most important classical music composers and contemporary ones.[3] Bands have performed in festivals in Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, France, Poland, Sweden, and Russia.[3] The band has also played in the Spasskaya Tower military tattoo in 2013, 2016, and 2017.[3] The band is commanded by its Senior Director of Music/Chief Conductor, Lieutenant Colonel Igor Khlebus, since 2019.[7] The artistic director of the band is Colonel Evgueny Dovzhik.[3][7]

Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus
The logo of the band.
Active1 April 1950 (1950-04-01)
Country Belarus
Branch Armed Forces of Belarus
TypeMilitary Band Department[1]
Size200 musicians at least[2]
Garrison/HQBuilding 1A, 21 Kuleshova Street, Minsk
Nickname(s)BelArmyBand
WebsiteBelArmyBand
Commanders
Senior Director of Music/CommanderLieutenant Colonel Igor Khlebus
Director of MusicColonel Yevgeny Dovzhyk
Deputy Commander and BandmasterLieutenant Colonel Maxim Kochetkov
Drum MajorMajor Alexei Yurchenko
Insignia
Shoulder Patch

Structure of the Service

As a grouping of military bands of the armed services of the republic the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces is composed of the following flagship units and other formations:

Exemplary Military Band
The band in traditional uniforms during a visit to Moscow (2019).

The Exemplary Military Band (also known as the Central Band of the Armed Forces), is the senior-most military unit in the service. It was founded on the basis of the Staff Band of the Belorussian Military District, which itself was founded on 1 April 1950.[8] It has been given high praise as one of the best military bands in the Soviet Union, next to the massed bands of the Kiev Military District and the Moscow Military District. In 1992, after the Fall of the Soviet Union and the Independence of Belarus, the band acquired a new status as the Main Exemplary Military Band of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus. Years later, the concert band and big band of the Ministry of Defense was added as a component of the band. On 13 August 2003, the band gained the honorary title of "Honored Collective of the Republic of Belarus".[7] The purpose of the band is to promote the military-patriotic education of servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus through the means of musical art.

Band of the Guard of Honor
Band of the Honor Guard Company at the Ministry of Defence.

The Band of the Honor Guard Company of the Minsk Military Commandant of the Armed Forces of Belarus was founded on July 1, 1995, as the Military Band of the Minsk Garrison's Office. Since 2018, the band has used chromatic fanfare trumpets in its ranks. For 21 years until 2016, the commander of the orchestra was Serguei Kostiuchenko. It works alongside the honor guard company in taking part in ceremonies in Belarus and abroad. The orchestra's repertoire is based on Belarusian, Russian and foreign music.[9][10]

The following have served as directors of the Band of the Honor Guard:[11]

  • Lieutenant Colonel Igor Khelbus (1993–1995)
  • Lieutenant Colonel Serguei Kostiuchenko (1995–2005)
  • Major Aleksandr Kantsyal (2016–present)

Cadet Bands

Cadet bands affiliated to the Band Service of the Armed Forces are drawn from military academies of the armed forces and ministries of the state.

Regional Bands

Together with the component bands of the MBSAFRB and the cadet bands of the Armed Forces, the regional bands from each of the military commandants are also components of the Band Service and are affiliated to the senior bands in Minsk. The bands of the regional departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while not being part of the Band Service, are also affiliated to it as well.

  • Band of the Baranavichy Military Commandant
  • Band of the Babruysk Military Commandant
  • Band of the Barysaw Military Commandant[12]
  • Band of the Brest Military Commandant – Created on 3 August 2001 under the direction of Alexander Nosov, the band jas been led by Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Minich since 2007.[13][14]
  • Band of the Grodno Military Commandant
  • Band of the Minsk Military Commandant
  • Band of the Vitebsk Military Commandant[15]

Unit Bands

In addition to the baseline military bands, it maintains additional active-duty field bands that are assigned to an active duty unit, usually the size of a regiment/brigade, following the Russian tradition.

These unit bands include but are not limited to:

Bands of affiliated militarized formations

Exemplary Band of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

The Exemplary Band of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was founded on 20 July 1945 as a military band of the 21st Motorized Rifle Detachment of the Ministry of State Security of the USSR. On 28 April 1995, the band was re-branded as the band of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. Its first concert in its new capacity took place on the Day of the Militia parade on 4 March 1995 at October Square. It is currently led by Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Kalinin.[17][18] It is also part of the Military Band Service of Internal Troops of Belarus.

Other bands of the MUS

Ensemble of the Border Guard Service

The Ensemble of the Border Guard Service is the official band supporting the everyday ceremonial activities of the Border Guard Service of Belarus, which reports to the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus, rather than to the Ministry of Defense. It falls under the jurisdiction of tbe Border Guard Service Institute of Belarus,[19] being an artistic ensemble for the institute. It is currently led by Captain Pavel Pashkin.[20][21]

Bands of the Ministry of Emergency Situations

The Band of the Ministry of Emergency Situations is the official band supporting the everyday ceremonial activities of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. It is an affiliated military brass band composed 25 musicians who have an extensive touring experience (performing at military tattoos in Poland, Germany, Belgium and Denmark).[22]

In 2014, the Military Band of the Grodno Regional Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations took part in the 54th International Festival of Military Music in Belgium, being greeted personally by Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo.[23]

Other musical units in Belarus

List of directors
Under the leadership Serguei Kostiuchenko, the band service shifted its musical focus from Russian marches to new Belarusian marches.

Directors of the Exemplary Military Band:[5][7]

  • V. Shalygin – (1950–1952)
  • I. Mironovich – (1952–1959)
  • A. Mayzler (1959–1968)
  • P. Chebanenko (1968–1974)
  • B. Chudakov – (1974–1979)
  • J. Kraokotin – (1979–1983)
  • Mikhail Bersan – (1983–1990)[25]
  • Colonel Alexander Fedorov – (1990–2004)[26]
  • Colonel Vladimir Ermolaev – (2004–2008)[27][28]
  • Colonel Serguei Kostiuchenko – (2008–2019)
  • Colonel Igor Khlebus – (2019-Present)

See also

References
  1. http://pravo.levonevsky.org/bazaby11/republic38/text369.htm
  2. "По главной улице с оркестром". SB.BY.
  3. "The Honor Guard and the Band of the Armed Forces of Belarus — [EN] Spasskaya bashnya". spasstower.ru.
  4. "The Guard of Honor and the Band of the Armed Forces, Belarus". izi.TRAVEL (in Chinese). Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  5. "История оркестра - Заслуженный коллектив ГУ "Образцово-показательный оркестр Вооруженных Сил Республики Беларусь"". belarmyband.by (in Russian). Retrieved 2017-11-22.
  6. "Образцово-показательный оркестр Вооруженных Сил Республики Беларусь! Долгожданный концерт в Минске!". afisha.tut.by (in Russian). Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  7. "Государственное учреждение "Образцово-показательный оркестр Вооруженных Сил Республики Беларусь" — Военный информационный портал Министерства обороны Республики Беларусь". www.mil.by. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  8. "Сергей Костюченко, начальник военно-оркестровой службы Вооруженных Сил РБ в программе "УТРО" на СТВ". Столичное телевидение - СТВ.
  9. "История оркестра". orchestra-minsk.www.by.
  10. https://vsr.mil.by/2017/12/02/odin-den-iz-zhizni-voennogo-dirizhyora/
  11. "Контакты". orchestra-minsk.www.by.
  12. https://vsr.mil.by/2014/05/20/prazdnik-muzyki-3/
  13. "Оркестр Брестской военной комендатуры отметит 14-летие". Виртуальный Брест.
  14. "Вечерний Брест". www.vb.by.
  15. http://www.vitebsk.gov.by/ru/gorod-ru/viewArchiveNews/duxovomu-orkestru-vitebskoj-voennoj-komendatury-65-let-2488/
  16. https://www.mil.by/ru/news/90929/
  17. https://www.sb.by/articles/yubiley-orkestra-vnutrennikh-voysk.html
  18. www.mvd.gov.by https://www.mvd.gov.by/ru/main.aspx?guid=3601. Retrieved 2020-04-15. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. https://promoter.by/artisty/muzykanty/1942-ansambl-pogranichnoy-slugbi-respubliki-belarus
  20. "Образцово-показательный оркестр". Институт пограничной службы Республики Беларусь.
  21. "Ансамбль". Институт пограничной службы Республики Беларусь.
  22. "Orchestre d'harmonie du Ministère des Situations d'Urgence de la République du Bélarus". www.comitedesfetes-saumur.fr. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  23. http://belgium.mfa.gov.by/en/embassy/news/a704a0fdf4a31002.html
  24. "Оркестр Военно-воздушных Сил РБ под управлением Дмитрия Наумовича! Долгожданный концерт в Минске!". afisha.tut.by.
  25. https://www.bgam.by/people/detail.php?ID=1415
  26. "Александр Владимирович Фёдоров - Александр Мурашко • Официальный сайт • Концерты, музыка, дискография". alexandermurashko.by.
  27. Мдивани, Татьяна; Цмыг, Галина; Савицкая, Ольга; Ничков, Борис; Ювченко, Н. (2019-04-06). Белорусское концертно-исполнительское искусство современности: 1991‒2016. ISBN 9785041586065.
  28. https://news.tut.by/culture/84896.html
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