RICHARD Butler has a great passion for teaching music.

So much so, he was given a MBE for services to music education in the 2017/18 New Year's honours list.

He also landed the Classic FM Secondary School Music Teacher of the Year Award in 2003.

On Wednesday (December 19, 7.30pm), the assistant headteacher and subject leader performing arts at Ulverston Victoria High School will be centre stage at the Coronation Hall with many of the school's talented young musicians for the UVHS Christmas Festival.

The event is an evening of fabulous festive tunes and seasonal readings from the outstanding students of the school's music department.

Come Saturday, March 2, the internationally renowned UVHS Wind Band share the Coronation Hall stage with the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines, regarded as the finest military band services in the world. Under the respective batons of Richard and Captain Steve Green, the marine band's two-day sojourn to Ulverston (March 1-2) culminates in a spectacular massed band finale in the Coro on the Saturday night.

Richard says that the band's visits have become an almost annual affair: "Indeed, Ulverston High is the only school to be partnered with the Band Service, and we will be welcoming several former students, who are now enjoying successful careers in the Marines Band Service, back to The Coro."

The first section of the Saturday night concert will feature the highly acclaimed UVHS Wind Band, which will be gearing up for an eight-day tour to Italy in July. Following the wind band's set, the Royal Marines Band, rated as the top military band in the world, will perform a programme on its own, including a display from the popular Corps of Drums; the final section will feature 35 of UVHS’s senior musicians joining the marines to form a massed band, performing some entertaining, but according to Richard, very demanding pieces. The repertoire will have been worked on during workshops the previous day and the Saturday afternoon, before the traditional Royal Navy and Marines conclusion; pieces include Sunset, Rule Britannia and the regimental marches.

The development of music in the Royal Marines is inextricably linked with the evolution of British military bands. Lively airs and the beat of the drum enabled columns of marching men to keep a regular step. The drum was the normal method of giving signals on the battlefield or in camp. As long ago as the days of Drake and Hawkins the drummer's rhythm would advertise the changing watches or beat the men to quarters.

Groups of musicians existed in the service before that, but in 1767 Royal Marines Divisional Bands were formed at Chatham, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Deal.

The original Royal Marines Band Service, together with its headquarters, the Royal Naval School of Music, was founded in 1903 to provide bands for the Royal Navy. The amalgamation of the divisional bands with the Royal Naval School of Music to form today's Royal Marines Band Service took place in 1950 when the headquarters and training establishment were renamed the Royal Marines School of Music.

These days, all Royal Marines bands are required to provide every imaginable musical ensemble, including orchestras and dance bands. Most musicians, except solo specialists, are required to attain an acceptable standard on both a string and a wind instrument. As a result of this special amalgam of expertise, Royal Marines musicians are regarded as some of the most versatile in the military musical world. The Corps of Drums receive an equally thorough training and pride themselves on maintaining the highest standards of drill, bugling and drumming. Their glittering presence at the front of all Royal Marines bands on the march gives the bands a visual impact that is second to none.

Tickets for the December 19 and March 2 performances are available from the Coro box office on 01229-587140.