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SGM Clay
Beard Sergeant Major Clay Beard joined the Academy Band in 1983 as a Field Music bugler. He was born in Gettysburg, PA and grew up in Hagerstown, MD. He holds a Bachelor's degree in music education from Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, WV. He has studied under renowned brass teacher Dr. Donald S. Reinhardt, Rob Roy McGregor of the LA Philharmonic, Dave Flowers of the National Symphony, as well as studio musician and former Tonight Show Band member Bob McCoy. SGM Beard currently serves as the Bugle Section Leader of the Hellcats. SGM Lee
Anne Newton Sergeant Major Lee Anne Newton grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and after attending Adams State College in Alamosa for one year, transferred to the University of Regina in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. While in Regina, she studied with Dr. Edward Lewis. After receiving a Bachelor of Music Education in 1980, she arrived at West Point as the first female assigned to the Hellcats. SGM Newton became group leader of the Hellcats in January 2003. SFC James
Barnard Sergeant First Class James Barnard comes to West Point with extensive teaching and Army credentials. Recruited as a Hellcat bugler, he has recently performed at length with Jazz Knights as they awaited the arrival of several new players. Barnard received a Bachelor of Music Performance degree in 1988 from East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. He came to the Army from Chesapeake, Virginia and worked for seven years as a Hampton (VA) middle school instrumental teacher. His prior Army assignments include The United States Continental Army Band, Fort Monroe, Virginia and The United States Army Europe Band, Heidelberg, Germany. SFC John
Manning Sergeant First Class John Manning was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, and grew up in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. Before teaching in Altoona, Pennsylvania and touring the United States with a classic swing orchestra, SFC Manning earned both a Bachelor of Music in trumpet performance and a Bachelor of Science in music education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the Academy Band in 2000, SFC Manning earned a Master of Music in trumpet performance from the University of North Texas and taught in Prince Georges County, Maryland. He has also performed in such diverse venues as cruise ship show bands, a festival orchestra in Mexico City and chamber music in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
SSG Sarah Botez Staff Sergeant Sarah J. Botez, originally from Grand Haven, Michigan, earned a dual Bachelor of Music Education degree in instrumental and vocal music from Hope College in 1997. She continued her graduate studies as a trumpet performance major at the University of Florida. While studying at the University of Florida, she served as a Graduate Assistant, teaching private lessons and brass methods. SSG Botez joined the Army Bands in 2000, serving her first five years in Heidelberg, Germany with the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) Band and Chorus. During this time, performances included the 60th Anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France, the Perugia Jazz Festival, and numerous appearances for U.S. and foreign dignitaries in over seventeen European countries. SSG Botez most recently served with the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Band at Fort Monroe, Virginia. SSG Denver Dill SSG Denver Dill has had successful career as a soloist. He has been a prizewinner and competitor in several competitions, including the 2000 Maurice Andre International Trumpet Competition in France, 2002 Tromp Muziek Biennale International Trumpet Competition in the Netherlands and the 2001-2003 National Trumpet Competitions in the United States. SSG Dill has been a featured performer at the 2002 Focus! Music Festival, the 2002 Aspen Music Festival, the 2003 Jerome L. Greene Memorial Concert, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s North American Premier of Augusta Reed Thomas’ Daylight Divine (solo piccolo trumpet), and the 2004 International Trumpet Guild Conference (New Works Concert). The Aspen Music festival, in 2003, contracted SSG Dill to tour on their behalf, giving concerts and classes as well as acting as an ambassador in Japan. In 2008, Mr. Dill was contracted as a soloist for the New York Philharmonic playing Berio’s Sequenza X for trumpet. As a member of the duo EQUINOX, SSG Dill tours internationally each year with pianist Rebecca Wilt commissioning and performing new works for trumpet and piano. Prior to joining the USMA Band SSG Dill was a doctoral candidate at the Eastman School of Music. He holds degrees from the Juilliard School, and Eastern Kentucky University. SSG Jon Leonard Staff Sergeant Jon Leonard returned to the Academy Band in August of 1998. He previously served in both the Hellcats and the Jazz Knights, from 1992 to 1995. SSG Leonard attended the University of North Texas, earning a bachelor's degree in jazz studies and a master's degree in trumpet performance. While at UNT, he played with the renowned One O'clock Lab Band. He pursued doctoral studies at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, and was most recently a visiting instructor of brass at Adams State College, in Alamosa, Colorado. SSG Leonard is from Fairbanks, Alaska.
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