 The RCA Band traces its roots to the "B" Battery Band of the Royal Canadian Artillery in Quebec City.Founded in 1879, it was composed of volunteer militia and professionally trained musicians from the United Kingdom and France, becoming the first permanent military band.It became the Royal Canadian Garrison Artillery Band in 1899 under Joseph Vézina, a prominent Quebec musician who was also the first director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and led the first performance of "O Canada" in 1880.