Anzac Day in WA: Emily Ballantyne prepares for The Last Post at Narrogin

EMILY Ballantyne is a nervous wreck before she puts her bugle to her lips and plays the first sombre, stirring notes of The Last Post. | ANZAC DAY IN WA | GETTING TO KINGS PARK

EMILY Ballantyne is a nervous wreck before she puts her bugle to her lips and plays the first sombre, stirring notes of The Last Post.

“I want to do the piece justice. Anzac Day is such a significant event to me. Playing is quite nerve wracking but such an honour and privilege,” the 17-year-old Narrogin musician said.

On Anzac Day, she will play The Last Post and Reveille for the fourth year in a row at Narrogin’s dawn service.

And later this year, she will play the same sombre notes on the pebbly shore of Anzac Cove as part of a trip by 38 musicians from the Perth Hills and Wheatbelt Band to the battlefields of Gallipoli and the Western Front.

“The Last Post is an eerie piece of music, it’s very solemn and it’s a song that definitely tells what happened. You can hear the sadness and sorrow of war captured within it,” the Narrogin Senior High School Year 12 student said.

Emily Ballantyne prepares for The Last Post that she will perform at the Narrogin dawn service on Anzac Day. Photo: Justin Benson-Cooper

“They sacrificed their lives for us. Only some made it back. I feel very grateful to the soldiers for what they’ve done for us, and that’s why I like being involved by playing the bugle,” she said.

“I’m really grateful for the opportunity.”

This year’s Gallipoli centenary is especially poignant for Emily after she learned of family ancestors – two brothers of her great grandmother – who fought in World War I.

“It was 100 years ago and the fact it hasn’t been forgotten is good. For me, it’s about trying to understand what they really wen through and how much of a sacrifice it was,” she said.

The teenager, who has played the trumpet and bugle for six years, said she was expecting her visit to Gallipoli to be emotional.

“I think it will really hit home when we’re down at Gallipoli and we’re in the place they were and standing on the ground they fought so hard for,” she said.

“It’s definitely a long was from Narrogin to Gallipoli.”

Band conductor and high school teacher Peter Hind said the 38 musicians would visit major battlefields including Gallipoli and several locations on the Western Front in June and July.

“We’ll be doing our own dawn service at Gallipoli and laying wreaths. It’s going to be a very special occasion for the band members, some who have family connections to the conflict,” he said.

Originally published as Anzac Day in WA: Emily Ballantyne prepares for The Last Post at Narrogin