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Jazz Knights Saxophones and Rhythm Section Perform at International Symposium Wall Street Article on USMA Band United States Military Academy Band Storm King Brass on Tour Academy Clarinet Quartet Travels West to California Academy
Band Musicians Make Historic Voyage to China
This past October, the U.S. Military Academy Band commander and three soloists made an historic voyage to perform with the Military Band of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Beijing, China. The collaboration between the Chinese and American bands was the first time U.S. military musicians performed with this organization in a live concert for a public audience. As the U.S. Military Academy Band commander, COL Thomas Rotondi, stated, "This was a significant international, musical partnership event. It was exhilarating to see Chinese and American musicians performing together. We will all treasure our time in China and will never forget this wonderful experience." The Military Band of the People's Liberation Army is the only state-level, professional military band in the Chinese Republic. Established in 1952, it has approximately 300 members and is divided into three large wind ensembles. It routinely performs for heads of state, national and international dignitaries as well as for the general Chinese populace. The musicians are the finest in the country, many of them graduates of the Central Conservatory in Beijing. The band headquarters and facilities are based in Beijing, China, and include multiple rehearsal halls, housing for the families, small shops, a cantina (or eating facility) and a school.
COL Rotondi served as guest conductor in a concert with the PLA Band on October 26th, 2004. COL Rotondi brought three USMA Band soloists to perform at the event: SFC MaryKay Messenger, soprano; SFC Wayne Tice, alto saxophone; and SSG Jason Ham, euphonium. During the trip Zhao Liu, a former member of the PLA Band, served as the interpreter for the Americans, and also as flute soloist on the concert. Zhao Liu joined the PLA Band as a flutist when he was 14 years old. He eventually left China to study music in the U.S. and currently freelances in the Chicago area. The four USMA musicians spent twelve days in China rehearsing with the PLA Band, giving master classes to band members and students from the Central Conservatory, and seeing some of the major Chinese cultural attractions. Each USMA Band member gave a master class to the students of the Central Conservatory and members of the PLA Band. Many fundamental musical concepts were explained to the Chinese about breath support, practice ethics, technique, tone and the relation to air support, vibrato and musical expression. COL Rotondi gave a master class to the Chinese conductors and band members and explained his approach toward the wind ensemble - the concept of sound, intonation, balance and blend. Rotondi had SFC Messenger sing during the class and he explained that instrumentalists should listen to vocalists more often. "Vocalists breathe and phrase naturally and they sing from the soul. Whatever they are feeling at the time, they can express it," stated Rotondi. With SFC Tice, Rotondi had him demonstrate keeping the same tonal concept across all the dynamics and range of the saxophone. With SSG Ham on euphonium, they showed the essential practice habit of learning a technical passage slowly with the metronome and gradually speeding up to the desired tempo. SSG Ham expressed, "I was moved by their desire to work with us." For the concert, COL Rotondi programmed several Western/European works to include Verdi's overture to La Forza del Destino, James Barnes' Variations on a Theme by Niccolo Paganini, Edwin Franco Goldman's march On Parade and Wagner's Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral. "I found the Chinese musicians to be wonderful, exciting players. They were magnificent with standard repertoire like the marches and orchestral transcriptions." Also on the program were uniquely American selections like SFC Messenger's Broadway feature Thoroughly Modern Millie and vocal selections from Gershwin's American Opera Porgy and Bess. "It was a thrill to share our American musical styles with the Chinese musicians. They played our styles with energy and vitality," Rotondi said. Both SFC Wayne Tice and SSG Jason Ham sat in the band during rehearsals and at the performance. Tice was featured performing the alto saxophone showpiece Introduction and Samba by Maurice Whitney and Ham played Vladimir Cosma's Euphonium Concerto. Zhao Liu was featured on the concert performing Bizet's Carmen Fantasia.
"The band made a great transformation during the rehearsals and were very excited about the result in the performance," stated SFC Tice. COL Rotondi added, "It was electric!!! All the things we worked on for a week and a half seemed to click from the downbeat." The Chinese and Americans sat side-by-side in the performance in the Concert Hall at the Chinese National Library. Programmed at the end of the event was Philip Egner's Official West Point March. The crowd of 1500 roared on to receive two encores, the nationalistic Chinese work Good News from Beijing Reaches the Frontier and then John Philip Sousa's masterpiece The Stars and Stripes Forever. Academy Band and PLA Band members made lasting and continuing friendships. SSG Jason Ham reveled in learning about the short history of the euphonium in China and meeting the only Chinese euphonium instructor currently in the Republic. COL Rotondi was able to continue his musical encounters with Brigadier General Yu Hai, Master and Conductor of the Military Band of the People's Liberation Army. General Yu Hai and COL Rotondi met when Rotondi was the commander of the U.S. Army Europe Band and Chorus in Schwetzingen, Germany. They then met again spontaneously at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Convention in Chicago where the invitation to China was conceived. SFC Tice noted, "The way they embraced us, everyone in the band was so gracious and the positive feelings were so mutual. They treated us great and the interaction was between people, even though there was a communication barrier, it did not seem to exist."
"The Chinese were certainly hospitable to us," SFC Messenger noted. "Flowers awaited us at the airport when we arrived and in our hotel rooms. The food was magnificent and they freely spent time with us touring the historical Chinese sights like Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Ming Dynasty Tombs and the Great Wall of China. It was the experience of a lifetime," SFC Messenger added. COL Rotondi concluded, "We shared musical ideas and learned about the culture of the Chinese people. More importantly, we will be bonded forever by friendship." Jazz Knights Saxophones and Rhythm Section Perform at International Symposium On Saturday, January 8th, the Jazz Knights saxophone and rhythm sections performed for an appreciative audience of saxophone students, educators and professional musicians at the United States Navy Band's 28th International Saxophone Symposium. The event was held at George Mason University's Patriot Center for the Arts in Fairfax, Virginia. The Jazz Knights saxophonists presented a varied program, which included original arrangements and compositions by its members. Internationally respected saxophonists Joe Luloff and Marty Nau, as well as members of the New Century Saxophone Quartet were among the musicians who expressed their appreciation of the tasteful arrangements and sensitive performance by the Academy Band's members. While at the event, participating members of the Jazz Knights also had the opportunity to hear featured guests perform with the impressive Navy Band and the Navy Band's jazz group, the Commodores. The Jazz Knights saxophone and rhythm sections were happy to participate in this event and wish to congratulate the United States Navy Band saxophonists for a well organized and inspiring symposium.
Wall Street Journal Article on USMA Band Please note the excellent article "Top Brass and Then Some - The West Point band plays more than Sousa marches" written by Mr. Barrymore Laurence Scherer publishing in the Wall Street Journal today. You can access it by clicking here United
States Military Academy Band
The Storm King Brass, consisting of SGM Rick Gerard, SFC Marty Tyce, SSG Eric Miller, SSG Gino Villarreal and SSG Eric Kuper, has maintained an active touring schedule this winter. In January, the Storm King Brass traveled to South Dakota and Iowa. Their tour included performances at Augustana (Sioux Falls, SD), Dordt (Sioux Center, IA), Morningside (Sioux City, IA) and Northwestern (Orange City, IA) Colleges. The members of the ensemble also presented master classes to the students at each institution. Similarly, the ensemble held "Brass Day" in Sioux City, IA. Intended for the students of the Sioux City Community School District, the master class included a performance by the Storm King Brass as well as individual instrument instruction. While in the Midwest, the group members also had an opportunity to travel to Nebraska and Minnesota as well.
In February, the Storm King Brass was hosted by Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. During their residency, the ensemble performed a recital and presented a master class. Similarly, the ensemble was featured with the Weber State Wind Ensemble performing Shadowcatcher composed by Eric Ewazen. While in Utah, the Storm King Brass also performed at Assembly Hall in Salt Lake City as a part of the Temple Square Recital Series. Staff Sergeants Eric Miller and Gino Villarreal also had time to meet Jeffrey Luke, associate principal trumpet of the Utah Symphony. Deemed a success, both tours included the American premiere of Edvard Grieg's Holberg Suite as well as three new arrangements from USMA Band hornist, Staff Sergeant Troy Messner. Academy
Clarinet Quartet Travels The Academy Clarinet Quartet of The United States Military Academy Band recently traveled to Los Angeles, California as part of a recruiting tour. While there, the Academy Quartet performed at California State University Long Beach (CSULB) and the University of Southern California (USC). Prominent L.A. freelance clarinetist and professor of clarinet at CSULB, Helen Goode-Castro played with the Academy Quartet on Sergeant First Class John Parrette's arrangement of W.A. Mozart's Quintet in c minor K. 388. The quartet also performed SSG Sam Kaestner's arrangement of Bela Bartok's String Quartet Number 2, Opus 17. While at CSULB, the Academy Quartet conducted a masterclass, coaching three students on standard clarinet repertoire.
L.A. Philharmonic bass clarinetist and USC clarinet professor David Howard performed the Mozart Quintet in c minor with the Academy Quartet at USC in the beautiful United University Chapel. The quartet was overjoyed that Mr. Howard held the rehearsal for the Mozart quintet in the stunning Walt Disney Concert Hall, home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, designed by world-famous architect Frank Gehry. The quartet preceded the performance of the Mozart quintet with another performance of Bartok's Second String Quartet. The performance was extremely well received and greatly enjoyed by the audience. The quartet was featured the next day in The Daily Trojan, the daily campus newspaper of USC. The day after the recital at USC, the Academy Quartet conducted a masterclass for the students of USC. One unscheduled event was added to the tour while in L.A. The Academy Quartet performed once again with Helen Goode-Castro at the arts magnet high school in California State University Los Angeles (CSULA). The woodwind students in attendance greatly appreciated hearing the quartet as well as their clarinet professor, Mrs. Goode-Castro. The trip to Los Angeles was highly successful. The recruiting team was able to generate awareness about the Army band program, as well as educate students about the opportunities available to them in the Army band program. The Academy Clarinet Quartet performed for several hundred people, and was very well received at all performances. In addition, the Quartet was overjoyed to work with David Howard and Helen Goode-Castro. |
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