Ross Chapman, Sydney Symphony Production Manager and returned serviceman, recites the Ode of Remembrance. Ross says:

“Anzac Day is an important personal day for me having served in the Royal Australian Navy for over 20 years, 13 and a half of them as a full-time musician, that included active service in Iraq, Afghanistan, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste.

“Since I transitioned back to being a reservist five years ago I have usually spent Anzac Day with close friends that I served with, as well as the many people in my life that are still active members of the Defence Force. This year will be different as we all find individual ways to remember.

“Hopefully these small moments of individual remembrance still allow for a level of unification in these challenging times.”

David Elton, Sydney Symphony Principal Trumpet plays the Last Post and the Rouse at the top of his driveway. David says:

“On Anzac Day each year, I feel honoured to play the last post, taking the time to remember what our forebears endured, especially at the fateful landing at Gallipoli. We are forever grateful for their extraordinary strength, courage and endurance that has protected our country to this day.

“For me, the music embodies the bleakness of war, but also the mateship of the troops.  There’s a sense of finality to the music as we reflect on all Australians who have sacrificed their lives for us, but the way the music ascends in its final phrase leads us to look forward somehow. 

“This Anzac Day, we all find ourselves in very unusual circumstances and situations. As we commemorate both individually and as part of our communities, we look back with gratitude, and also look forward with hope.

“This year I have been loaned a unique antique cornet from 1911, said to have landed at Gallipoli with a digger from Wingham near Taree. To be playing this instrument provides a humbling connection to those troops.”

Lest we forget.