Introduction
Tchaikovsky's Mighty 1812 Overture
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| Superlative Sight picture by Tony McDonough |
One of the tasks that the Battery undertakes with its M2A2 105mm Guns is formal Salutes. These Salutes are fired on Australia Day and the Queens Birthday.
Western Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) conducted a Symphony in the City on the Swan River foreshore known as the Esplanade was "A celebration of some of the greatest classical music ever written, climaxing with a performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, with the Swan Bells and 7 Field Battery of The Australian Army".
This rare event had the live "cannons" from 7 Field Battery fired 22 blank rounds during the spectacular finale watched by an audience of over 15,000 whose applause clearly demonstrated the brilliant performance.
Conductor Guy Noble paid tribute to MAJ Andrew Dunjey and the orchestra's Gun Coordinator Sarah Thomas who worked with LT Nigel Kerr, in directing the timing of the cannons.
Marshall McGuire, Executive Manager, Artistic Planning of WASO, said "there has been heaps of great responses to the concert, made very memorable by the Battery's participation."
A number of photographers were able to capture great pictures of the event from different angles during the event and our special thanks go to Tony McDonough (RawImage); Vaughan Pucinelli; PTE Phil Kirk and WO2 Eric Bateman for their respective contributions.
What a blast!
Orchestrated Magic
Fire in the Night
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Finale all together now |
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Side aspect in the darkened arena |
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This great stuff all six |
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Timing was so important to the music |
It could not have been better. The timing was perfect, the visuals were splendid, the crowd was exhilarated and the whole show superb. These images were captured by three separate photographers and the credit goes to them for contributing to this wonderful symphony of fire.
Practice
Practice Makes Allegro
Practice
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Practice makes perfect |
 with LT Nigel Kerr','518','778'))
Sarah Thomas (WASO) with LT Nigel Kerr |
Nothing works without practice. Sarah rehearses with the Battery GPO who is the officer that points to each respective gun in the firing sequence. To ensure unity with the Orchestra, the role of the Number 1 is exempted from giving the order to Fire.
Audience
The WASO Audience
Anticipation
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Audience from western end |
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Gun Inspection |
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More crowd |
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Paul Ince-Smith and his Dad |
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The Swan Bells |
There was a magnificent turnout for the concert and it is reflective of the public of Perth and surrounding suburbs that so many turned out for this wonderful occasion on the shores of the Swan.
Cleanup
Time to put away the Guns
Aftermath
You just cannot put the gun back in the holster. The men and women of 7 Field Battery prepared their guns for storage over the summer break and it was done with the same enthusiasm and professionalism that is a trait of the Battery.