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USO Liberty Belles Perform With USMA Concert Band USMA Band Performs 9/11 Remembrance Halftime Show at Giants Stadium 1812 Concert is Success with Notable Guest Appearances
26th Annual Reunion Concert at West Point The United States Military Academy Band presented its 26th annual reunion concert on Sunday June 26th at West Point’s Trophy Point Amphitheatre. Concertgoers experienced a special treat as band alumni joined the current Jazz Knights, Hellcats and Concert Band for the performance. Furthermore, two guest conductors helped to make the evening a special event.
The concert opened with music from the Jazz Knights, under the direction of Chief Warrant Officer Douglas Hammond. The crowd at Trophy Point was treated to masterful performances of classic big band pieces as well as newer material destined to become classics. Band alumni Master Sergeant (Retired) Ron Harsch on drums, Mr. Bud Berlingeri on tenor saxophone and Mr. Bill Shadel on alto saxophone made a significant contribution to the evening’s performance. Vocal soloist Sergeant First Class Laura Bradley sang soulfully on several numbers. The Academy Band’s field music group, the Hellcats, under the supervision of Sergeant Major Lee Anne Newton gave a short demonstration of drum and bugle music before the Concert Band performed. This was surely a significant event for several young adults in the audience who would begin their time as USMA cadets the following day.
The evening’s events culminated with a performance by the Concert Band under the direction of Major Timothy J. Holtan. Deputy Commander Captain Treg Ancelet led the group through Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto In A Minor. Band alumnus Mr. George Catandella gave a stellar performance as piano soloist. Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) David Deitrick, Jr., former commander of the Academy Band, led the group through two selections, including the French National Defilé March which featured the Hellcats. Captain Ancelet returned to the podium to conduct Grand Russian Fantasy, featuring virtuoso cornet soloist Mr. Larry Black. Mr. Black is a band alumnus who has also performed as a trumpeter with the Atlanta Symphony. Mr. Black performed As The Deer as an encore on C and piccolo trumpets. Sergeant Major (Retired) Robert Moon led the band through The Footlifter. Major Holtan returned to the podium to conclude the performance. Sergeant First Class MaryKay Messenger gave a lively rendering as vocal soloist in songs from Singin' In The Rain.
USO Liberty Belles Perform With On Sunday, August 14th, the United States Military Academy Concert Band performed a concert of popular American music under the direction of Captain Treg Ancelet. The Concert Band was joined by the USO vocal trio, The Liberty Belles. Heavy rains and lightning storms moved the concert indoors to Eisenhower Hall Theatre, but did not manage to dampen the spirits of performers nor audience members.
The Concert Band opened the performance with John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare and Theme, an impressive brass feature. This was followed by a spirited rendering of Henry Fillmore’s march The Klaxon, performed at break-neck speed. The band showcased its lyrical playing with a beautiful rendering of Frank Ticheli’s arrangement of the traditional tune Shenandoah. Aaron Copland’s “Hoe-Down” from Rodeo provided a technical workout for the woodwind section and led into the portion of the program featuring the Liberty Belles. The USO Liberty Belles: Victoria Reed, Jennifer Johns and Linda Sue Moshier wowed the Eisenhower Hall audience with their unique blend of Andrews Sisters-esque harmonies, choreographed dance numbers and patriotic spirit. Highlights included a medley of tunes made popular by the Andrews Sisters and Sing Sing Sing, featuring clarinet soloist Staff Sergeant Samuel Kaestner and percussion soloist Master Sergeant Andrew Csisack. The combined forces of the Academy Concert Band and the Liberty Belles created an intensity and energy that was felt by all in attendance. The Concert Band performed Joseph Willcox Jenkins' American Overture for Band and Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag before being joined again by the Liberty Belles to close out the concert. The Liberty Belles’ final selections were of a patriotic nature and included God Bless America and The Battle Hymn of the Republic. The Liberty Belles’ performance was an impressive addition to an already strong summer concert season by the Academy Band. On Sunday August 21, 2005 the United States Military Academy Band’s Jazz Knights performed as part of the “Music Under the Stars” series at beautiful Trophy Point Amphitheatre with world renowned trumpeter Randy Brecker. The band featured Mr. Brecker on a number of his original compositions including Freefall, Hurdy Gurdy, and probably his most well known composition, Some Skunk Funk. It was a concert of modern jazz with innovative improvisations from Randy Brecker, as well as members of the Jazz Knights. The concert was kicked off with The Opener, written by Sergeant Major retired Jim Perry, a short selection featuring the band. The group segued into Cedar Walton’s Mosaic, sung by Sergeant First Class Laura Bradley, arranged by the Jazz Knights director Chief Warrant Officer Douglas Hammond. Following Laura, the Jazz Knights trumpet section and rhythm section performed a transcription of Mr. Hammond’s entitled the Three Trumpeters, written by composer/trumpet player Nicolas Payton. This composition featured explosive trumpet solos by Staff Sergeants Vito Speranza, Mark Bobnick, Rich Johnson, and Bill Dunn.
As Randy Brecker took the stage following The Three Trumpeters and played the first few notes of his solo on Nica’s Dream, it was evident, from the perspectives of the musicians on stage and the audience members that we were in for an amazing show. Mr. Brecker’s trumpet sound was clear, dark, and ominous as his musical lines flowed out of his bell like a waterfall in a mountain spring. The execution of his ideas was completely fluid and smooth with the utmost accuracy. The band went on to perform six of Randy Brecker’s original compositions which, of course, featured blistering solos from Randy as well as inspiring solos by band members Staff Sergeant Derrick James on alto saxophone, Staff Sergeants Jay Malone and David Loy Song on tenor saxophones, Staff Sergeant Bill Dunn on trumpet, Staff Sergeant Scott Arcangel on piano, Master Sergeant Lou Pappas on bass, Staff Sergeant Bob Jones on drums, and, in his first Trophy Point concert as the newest member of the Jazz Knights, Specialist Mark Tonelli on guitar.
Randy Brecker’s command of the trumpet, combined with his ability to improvise, makes him one of the most sought after innovators in modern jazz today, which was very evident during Sunday’s concert. Staff Sergeant David Loy Song, tenor saxophonist in the Jazz Knights said, “I think playing with Randy really elevated the group’s musicianship. His charts were very challenging and then rewarding once we were able to pull them off and make them sound like he intended. Overall, it was a very musically inspiring concert for me.”
USMA Band Performs 9/11 Remembrance Halftime Show at
Giants Stadium On September 11, 2005, the United States Military Academy Band, under the direction of Major Timothy J. Holtan, performed a halftime show in remembrance of 9/11 at Giants Stadium as part of the New York Giants vs. Arizona Cardinals football game. Parts of the performance were shown on live national television. There were also numerous highlights throughout the night shown on both the ESPN and Fox Sports networks nationwide. The band received two standing ovations from the 75,000 plus fans in attendance.
The music performed at the ceremony was Hymn to the Fallen and Liberty Fanfare by prolific film composer John Williams. Liberty Fanfare was commissioned for the 100th birthday celebration of the Statue of Liberty in 1986. Sergeant First Class Laura Bradley joined the band to sing Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA for the band’s final selection of the day.
The performance concluded with a massive American Flag being unfurled by members of the NYPD, FDNY and Port Authority Police. The entire event was extremely moving to all who observed.
1812 Concert is Success with On September 3rd, the United States Military Academy Band closed its summer concert season with the traditional concert featuring the Overture 1812. This year’s performance featured a number of special guests contributing to a memorable end to an outstanding concert season. The evening’s events began with the Retreat Ceremony performed by the Academy Band’s field music group, the Hellcats. Much of the West Point community is accustomed to the outstanding daily work of the Hellcats. However, this performance, supervised by Sergeant Major Lee Anne Newton served as an introduction to the work of the field music group for much of the civilian audience in attendance. The concert began with a spirited program of swing compositions performed by the Jazz Knights, under the direction of Chief Warrant Officer Douglas Hammond. Guest artist Steve Turre demonstrated why he is in such demand as a trombonist, presenting inspired solo performances on a number of original compositions, as well as jazz standards. Sergeant First Class MaryKay Messenger and Sergeant First Class Laura Bradley performed inspired vocal solos with the band. The concert continued with the Academy Concert Band, under the direction of Major Timothy J. Holtan. Notable selections included Staff Sergeant Jason Ham’s virtuosic performance of Napoli on euphonium and the band’s gorgeous rendering of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Rhosymedre. The U.S. Army Chorale, under the direction of Captain Domingos Robinson took to the stage to perform a number of selections in the pop/rock vein, including Carlos Santana’s Smooth and Clay Aiken’s Invisible.
Two new compositions were premiered at this concert. Charles Strouse’s Washington March was performed in a new arrangement by Sergeant First Class Douglas Richard. Mr. Strouse, perhaps best known for his scores to Bye Bye Birdie and Annie, was present for this performance. Mr. Strouse was surprised to find that the band also performed A Strouse Celebration, another arrangement by Sergeant Richard, featuring Sergeant First Class MaryKay Messenger and Staff Sergeant Juan Rodriguez as vocal soloists on a number of Mr. Strouse’s compositions. The concert closed with the performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, with cannon fire provided by the 1st Battalion/1st Infantry Salute Battery. Concertgoers were treated to a spectacular fireworks display following the concert.
Band Collects Donations for Hurricane Relief “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure,” is a phrase often associated with yard sales. It may have found a deeper purpose Sept. 10 when old clothes, toys, baby accessories and furniture hit the lawns and driveways of the West Point community. The growing empathy for the dislocated victims of Hurricane Katrina sparked an idea for many in the community to donate their excess stuff at the end of the West Point yard sale. “I hate running because things pop into my head,” said Sgt. Maj. Cal Christensen, the U.S. Military Academy Band’s instrument repairman. He said for the past 17 years he’s seen lots of stuff tossed out at the end of each yard sale. “While I was out running I just kept thinking about these victims and about the yard sale coming up,” Christensen said. “I thought about the abundance we have, that we don’t need and we just toss away, and yet there are people who now have nothing -- the entire time I was running it kept coming back to me that we should be able to do something.”
Christensen talked over the idea of collecting the yard sale items with his chain of command who gave him the go-ahead. The sergeant major assembled a team three days before the yard sale and scrambled to get the word out to the community. “The morning of the yard sale we went around and flooded the place with flyers,” Christensen said. “Just so we could get the word out about what we were doing. ”That is when Christensen and other band members started to see an overwhelming response from the community. One person Christensen talked to started pulling stuff out of the yard sale to give and, if that wasn’t enough, he explained, she went back into her house to look for more things to give. “That amazed me,” Christensen said. Others went out and bought new stuff to give, he added. “I think the selfless acts really touched me,” Christensen said. “The fact that they could have ignored all of this, the hassle of going through their closets and finding stuff. They didn’t have to do that -- they chose to do it and that really touched me.” Overall, 37 community members, mostly from the USMA Band, committed their time to collect the leftover items, sort through bag after bag in the basement of the band building. Sergeant Major LeeAnne Newton, group leader for the Hellcats, took charge of cataloging all the items. She said she couldn’t believe how much stuff the community donated. All the items were sorted into categories of men’s, women’s, boy’s, girl’s, babies, coats and shoes and were placed into bags labeled accordingly. When all was done, 460 contractor-size bags and boxes were filled with the collected items. “It keeps track of the items we have, and it gives the Red Cross, or whoever may come across this, an idea of what is in the bags,” Newton said. “So, it is a little more organized than they would normally get.”
The original thought, Christensen said, was to deliver the stuff to Camp Smith, which FEMA officials named as a possible site to place hurricane victims coming to New York. But, most importantly, he said, to give to Red Cross shelters throughout the northeast region. The Red Cross has opened more than 600 ARC shelters across the nation, said Michelle Strom, West Point’s Red Cross director. As of Sept. 13, the Red Cross has placed 2,831 victims in shelters in the northeast region, Strom explained, and thousands more are expected in the area soon. While the Red Cross is mostly in need of financial donations, the items given by the West Point community will be a great help, she said. The warm clothes and coats especially will be much appreciated by the southerners from the Gulf Coast coming north during the change of seasons, Strom added. “Most people, when they come to a shelter, are coming mostly with the clothes on their back or maybe one outfit,” she explained. “So anything we are able to give those families until they are able to get into a new home or until they are able to get financial means to buy more clothes, will be a big help.” The donated toys will also be a big help in entertaining the children and relieving much of the stress of living in a temporary home, Strom added. Besides monetary donations the Red Cross is collecting items for Comfort Kits. The kits are handed out to each person who arrives at a shelter and contains soap, a comb, a tooth brush, toothpaste, a washcloth, a hand towel, razor and shaving cream. Items can be dropped off at the American Red Cross office in building 622. For more information on how you can help, call 938-4100. |
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