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Sounds
from the Hudson Volume 12, Issue 2 COL Thomas Rotondi, Jr. - Commander Music
Under the Stars 2004 Drum
Majors Play Key Role in Mission of Academy Band USMA
Band Continues Commissioning Project Academy
Band Bids Farewell to Chief Hester USMA
Ensembles in the Studio Academy
Band Retirements and Arrivals “Music
under the Stars” 2004 On
June 20th, Academy Band alumni return to West Point to play
again with the Hellcats, Jazz Knights and Concert Band for the 25th
Annual Reunion
Concert. Three
former commanders will return to lead the band: Col. (Ret.) Verne
Campbell, Col. (Ret.) L. Brian Shelburne and Lt. Col. (Ret.) David H.
Deitrick. Also,
Dave Zauder, USMA Band (1951-1955) and former principal cornet of the
Cleveland Orchestra (1958-1998), will solo with the Concert Band.
Shank
solos on piano Aug. 15th
See
Chodacki play August 29th
The
combination of the twirl of the Hellcats’ bugle, big-band music of the
Jazz Knights and the 1812 Overture of the Concert Band brings the
“Music under the Stars” series to a close on September 4th
at 6:00 p.m. This year’s
musical guests include percussionist Emil Richards and the U.S. Army
Chorus to provide some musical fireworks.
Percussionist
Emil Richards will jam with the Jazz Knights on marimba and impress the
Trophy Point crowd with his astonishing virtuosity.
Since the 1960’s, he has been one of Hollywood’s most
sought-after percussionists and worked on film scores for the likes of
John Williams and Henry Mancini. Emil’s impressive amount of
studio work can be seen on his “Movies and Television Col. Rotondi invited the U.S. Army Chorus to add some vocal splendor to
the evening. The chorus,
which was established in 1956, is the vocal counterpart of the U.S. Army
Band, “Pershing’s Own,” in Washington, D.C.
Its members will vocalize the Russian
folk hymn, God Preserve Thy People, to begin Tchaikovsky’s
1812 Overture. The
Academy Band, Emil Richards and the U.S. Army Chorus will sign off another
fine Trophy Point concert season. Drum
Majors Play Key Role in Mission of Academy Band Throughout
history, drill and marching have been important tools of military
training. At the U.S.
Military Academy, these tools encourage teamwork and esprit de corps
among cadets. Reviews and
parades offer the public a chance to see the results of this training and
the Academy Band can be seen leading all parades and reviews at West
Point. The band Drum Major
has the responsibility of making sure that the music and movements of the
Marching Band appear flawless to spectators at all ceremonies.
Since the Drum Major is in front of the band signaling with his
mace, all eyes are on him, perhaps more than on anyone else in the review.
His responsibilities include training and drilling the band in preparation
for all marching commitments.
He also plays a role in the training of the cadets in drill and
ceremony. Sgt.
Major Hill stands at attention at an Army football game The
U.S. Military Academy has had the good fortune throughout its history to
have highly qualified drum majors to perform these duties.
Sgt. Major Kelvin Hill is the most recent in a long line of
excellent Academy Band Drum Majors. Sgt. Major Hill has been at the
helm of the Marching Band since June of 1993.
Before coming to the West Point Band in 1976, he was a member of
the 101st Airborne Division Band at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
He was Assistant Drum Major under Sergeant Major Joseph Horvath at
West Point from 1983 to 1993. Upon
Sgt. Major Horvath’s retirement, Hill was chosen to lead the Marching
Band into the 21st century. Sgt.
Major Hill also acts as principal bassoonist of the Concert Band, is a
member of the West Point Woodwind Quintet and the Concert Band
Non-commissioned Officer-In-Charge.
Sgt. Major Hill will retire from active duty this summer with 30
years of service. One
of the many highlights of Sgt. Major Hill’s drum majoring career at West
Point was leading the band in the inaugural parade for our current
president in January of 2001. The
Academy Band first marched in an inaugural parade in 1873 for academy
graduate Ulysses S. Grant. The
2001 event required Sgt. Major Hill to do a huge amount of coordination
and planning with very short notice.
“Due to the controversy surrounding the last presidential
election, we received very little advance warning of our participation,”
Hill described. “The
Military District of Washington (MDW) Ceremonies Office coordinates the
inaugural parade. The
coordination among MDW, the various U.S. Corps of Cadets agencies and our
own operations section required a lot of late night work.”
Preparation included planning drills for the band with two feet of
snow on the ground. The
opportunity to perform at the prestigious event was worth all of the hard
work. Additional highlights of Hill’s career include leading the band in eleven Army/Navy football games as well as football games for the old USFL’s New Jersey Generals and the NFL’s New York Jets. He also had the opportunity to lead the band in opening ceremonies for Yankees and Mets baseball games, including game six of the 2003 World Series.
Sgt. Major Hill presents arms during a Pass in Review
Hill
states that he has enjoyed working with the Academy’s Cadet Cadre and
the 1st Infantry/1st Battalion operations unit at West Point to prepare
for ceremonies during his time. In
preparation for off-post events, he worked closely with members of
installations from Fort Devens, Fort Monmouth and various other military
installations in New Jersey and New York.
Sgt.
Major Hill retires as the Senior Drum Major in the United States Army.
During his tenure, his professionalism and attention to detail
helped prepare the unit to perform at the high musical and visual
standards that the American public has come to expect from the U.S.
Military Academy Marching Band.
“Being
selected Drum Major of the U.S. Military Academy Band is an honor not
taken lightly!” exclaimed Sheffler. “A main focus for me will be to
continue the tradition of excellence that the Marching Band and all of the
past Drum Majors have achieved, especially that of my two main mentors,
Sergeants Major Kelvin Hill and Joseph Horvath.
I am privileged to be able to work with extremely talented
musicians who take pride in their efforts while accomplishing the
group’s overall mission of service to the Corps of Cadets.
I look forward to the challenge of leading the U.S. Military
Academy Marching Band and all that the position encompasses.”
Drum
Major Sgt. 1st Class Eric Sheffler USMA
Band Continues Commissioning Project
Recently,
the West Point community was treated to the premiere of two new pieces for
wind band. New works by composers Evan Chambers and Perry Goldstein
were presented in concerts in the Eisenhower Hall Ballroom in February and
April, respectively. Evan
Chambers, professor of Composition and Director of Electronic Music
Studios at the University of Michigan, wrote a stirring piece for the band
entitled Outcry and Turning. Mr. Chambers’ deeply spiritual
nature shined through in a work of unbridled emotion in its February
premiere, conducted by Capt. Addison. Displaying a number of folk
music influences, the work explores human response to adverse
circumstances, a concept that all listeners can relate to on some level.
Mr. Chambers gave a brief note on the work prior to its performance that
touched on the spiritual and emotional depth of his piece and that
inspired a truly moving performance by the Academy Band. The
Academy Band, under the direction of Col. Rotondi, premiered Perry
Goldstein’s The Abundant Air: Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Band
in April. Goldstein, currently on faculty at the State University of New
York at Stony Brook, has worked closely with the West Point Saxophone
Quartet in the past and had two of his works recorded by the quartet.
Due to this close relationship, Goldstein was able to compose a piece
uniquely tailored to the strengths of both the quartet and the band,
exploring a wide array of styles.
The premiere, featuring guest saxophonist Taimur Sullivan, amply
displayed both the virtuosity of the quartet and the masterful performance
of the band. Significant
wind band repertoire was composed for the band celebrating the Academy’s
sesquicentennial and bicentennial.
Several of these commemorative works became
staples in wind band literature.
The works by Chambers and Goldstein
launch a new era of literature written for and dedicated to the
U.S. Military Academy Band. Academy
Band Bids Farewell to Chief Hester
Chief
Warrant Officer Hester
in
1992. He was most recently commander of the 113th Army
Band at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Also known as “The Dragoons,” this band
has a rich history as the 2nd oldest U.S. Army Band.
He has also commanded the 82nd Airborne Division Band at
Fort Bragg and the 10th Mountain Division Band at Fort Drum. USMA
Ensembles in the Studio The
Jazz Knights went to work on their recording project in Egner Hall.
The first track on the disc is Listen Up, a straight-ahead
big band chart by Manny Albam, and the last work that the composer wrote
before he passed away. Following
that is a three-movement jazz suite by Dennis Mackrel, which includes a
movement of jazzy rock, a movement of Latin jazz and a burning bebop
finale. The final
contribution by the Jazz Knights is an arrangement of two Percy Grainger
pieces by James Chirillo, a former band member.
He chose to write an arrangement of Grainger’s music for the
Knights because of the storied relationship that the famous composer had
with the West Point Band. This
track calls for strong endurance and control from all players, as the
dynamic range demands the band play soft and delicate along with big and
brash. Proficient doubling on
secondary instruments by the saxophone section is also essential to making
this tune work. Creatively
improvised solos abound on this disc and nearly every jazz style and
flavor is executed brilliantly by the Academy Band’s Jazz Knights. The
Concert Band also spent a productive period of time recording at the
Lycian Center in Sugar Loaf, New York.
The material recorded this year makes up the fifth and final volume
of the band’s bicentennial commission recordings.
Featured are such commissions as Valor, by award winning
composer James Barnes, and Ike, by Jack Stamp.
Ike is a piece written for concert band and narration.
Dr. Stamp had Dwight D. Eisenhower expert Dr. Joseph M. Dailey
write the text. Ike’s
stirring themes and text, as interpreted by Sgt. Major Rick Gerard, are a
heartfelt tribute to Eisenhower as a model of American courage and
determination. Besides works
for full concert band, the recording also contains a sample of chamber
music written for the musicians of the Concert Band.
Concerto Grosso for Brass and Percussion was written by the
enormously successful Norwegian composer Trygve Madsen and is just one of
a few collaborations with Academy Band members.
The other chamber piece included is Three Utterances for
Clarinet Quartet which was written by English composer Paul Harvey for
the West Point Clarinet Quartet. The
band’s field music group, The Hellcats, completed the final stage of
production on their CD allowing the listener to experience an entire day
of field music duties including Reveille, meal formations, a solemn
funeral with Taps and a parade with the cadets.
Three Hellcat buglers (Staff Sergeants John Manning, Deric Milligan
and Longino Villarreal) were featured with the Concert Band performing
Leroy Anderson’s ever popular Bugler’s Holiday.
This bugle trio with band accompaniment is wonderfully exciting and
the recording demonstrates some truly impressive playing. Academy
Band Retirements and Arrivals This
year, two excellent musicians retire from the Academy Band.
Sgt. 1st Class Rich Storey and Sgt. 1st Class Harold Easley will be
missed after their many years of musical service and devotion to duty. Sgt.
1st Class Harold Easley has been a member of the clarinet section since
1978. He also performed in
the West Point Woodwind Quintet. Before
coming to West Point, he performed with the U.S. Coast Guard Band in New
London, Connecticut. One of
the many highlights of his career with the band occurred in 1982 when he
premiered Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble, by Czech/
American composer Vaclav Nelhybel.
Along with fond farewells, the band welcomes two new members to the Jazz Knights saxophone section. Staff Sgt. David Loy Song, tenor saxophonist, brings with him a wealth of professional experience. After graduating from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he toured with the contemporary versions of the Tommy Dorsey Band and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He has also performed on Princess and Holland America cruise ships, and is currently active as Col. Rotondi and Sounds of the Hudson editor and leader
of his own jazz quartet. His
exceptional improvisational talents are already impressing audiences at
every Jazz Knights performance. Staff Sgt. Jermaine Malone comes to the Jazz Knights after a tour of duty with the prestigious Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) International Band in Belgium. As lead tenor saxophonist with the SHAPE Jazz Orchestra, Staff Sgt. Malone performed throughout Europe with military musicians from the United States and various other countries. He looks forward to the opportunity for continued personal and professional musical development as a member of the Jazz Knights. |
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Dave
Murray, string bass, will perform as soloist July 25th, at 7:30
p.m. in a concert entitled Serious Low Frequency.
The
Ceremonies
and reviews honoring many world leaders were conducted during Hill’s
tenure, including events honoring Presidents George H. W. Bush, William
Clinton and George W. Bush, President Fidel Ramos of the Philippines, Pope
John Paul II, Dr. Henry Kissinger and Walter Cronkite.
Upon
Sgt. Major Hill’s retirement, the Academy Band will welcome the talents
of his replacement, Sgt. 1st Class Eric Sheffler.
Chief
Warrant Officer Wayne Hester departed West Point to take command of the 4th
Infantry Division Band at Fort Hood, Texas this summer.
Chief
Warrant Officer Douglas Hammond assumed leadership of the Jazz Knights
upon Chief Hester’s departure.
Sgt.
1st Class Richard Storey retired on March 30th, 2004, after 29
years of service to the U.S. Military Academy Band and the U.S. Coast
Guard Band in New London, Connecticut. He performed as Solo
Trumpet in the U.S. Coast Guard Band from 1975-1979 and served with the
U.S. Military Academy Band since 1980.