A ROYAL Marines musician from Ulverston is preparing to play solo before an audience of thousands at this year’s Mountbatten Festival of Music.

Violinist Ruth Wardle will be among the Massed Bands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines for three performances at the Albert Hall on March 9/10.

Ruth has been chosen to give solo performances during the festival giving a recital of ‘Meditation’ from the opera ‘Thaïs’.

The 27-year-old said: “I regularly play solos with the Plymouth band and have played this piece before, but that’s at much smaller venues, so nothing as big as this.

"I’m nervous, but very excited. My piece is quite famous; it’s played a lot on Classic FM. I saw a violinist playing a solo at the Mountbatten Festival of Music a few years ago and knew that I wanted to be up there myself one day. It’s a dream come true for me and will certainly be the pinnacle of my career so far. It’s why I joined the Royal Marines Band Service.”

Ruth was inspired to join the Royal Marines Band Service while studying at Ulverston Victoria High School. She said: “Members of the band used to come into our school to run workshops and perform joint concerts. Although I was interested in a career in the Band Service, I always wanted to study at University so once I graduated I looked again at joining up.”

Since becoming a Royal Marines musician four years ago, Ruth has played all over the world. She is currently a member of the Plymouth band and is studying for a Masters degree partly funded by the Service.

The Mountbatten Festival of Music is the Royal Marines Band Service biggest concert of the year. This year the bands based at Plymouth, Collingwood and Portsmouth will join together for the Massed Bands performance.

Displaying the outstanding versatility of some of the world’s finest military musicians, the festival will see the Royal Marines showcase their wide range of musical styles from music from the big screen to solos, traditional marches and overtures.