The French Army Signals Band () is a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

based in

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. Comprising 53 musicians, it is one of the seven bands of the army (excluding the bands of the regiments and military schools). It is led by Captain Sandra Ansanay-Alex, who has served in this capacity since 2013. She is the first female conductor in the history of the French Army. The band employs the

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

region's

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

heritage, with 2

bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

s and a bombard player in its ranks. It has participated in international events such as the

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Military Tattoo, the

Spasskaya Tower Military Music Festival and Tattoo The Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival is an annual military music event and military tattoo held in Moscow on Red Square. Participating in the festival are Russian and foreign military bands, folk groups, and honor guard units ...

and the

Virginia International Tattoo The Virginia International Tattoo is a military tattoo that began in 1997 and is the signature event of the Virginia Arts Festival, a not-for-profit performing arts organization based in Norfolk, Virginia. The event was established in 1997, and ...

. €67,340.96 was the sum of money that was collected during the concerts the band provided in 2019. Originally known as the Band of the 41st Infantry Regiment. It later became part of the North-West Army Region and in 2010 and was renamed to the Artillery Band. During its time as the Artillery Band, it was part of the 16th Artillery Group. With the army reforms that became effective on 1 September 2016, it was renamed to the Signals Band.

References

French military bands {{France-mil-stub

See also

References