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The soothing melody of flutes, clarinets, saxophones and French
horns caressed the air upward into the bright stage lights, side by
side with the sounds of trumpets, tubas, and trombones that rolled
across the stage floor like the tides of the sea. A woman’s soft yet
powerful vocals wrapped around “America the Beautiful,” as
musicians’ fingers harmoniously pelted out the melody behind the
song as other hands tapped the drums swiftly at its conclusion.
These were the sounds produced through the musical instruments of
10 talented, local area, high school, band students, alongside 26
Citizen-Soldier musicians of the District of Columbia Army National
Guard’s 257th Army Band, at the Columbia Heights Educational Campus
on March 18, 2017.
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March 18, 2017 - Washington, D.C. local high school band
students perform side by side with members of the 257th Army Band,
District of Columbia National Guard, at the Columbia Heights
Education Campus during the first All-City Honor Band. The students
were selected by their schools' band directors to perform side by
side with the unit officially known as the 257th Army Band, "The
Band of the Nation's Capital", during Music in Our Schools Month.
(Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Adrian Shelton)
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They were playing together neither because the military
wants to recruit these children to join the military as soon
as they graduate high school nor to interest them in
military music. Instead, this was the All-City Honor Band,
the first of its kind, sponsored by the 257th Army Band, It
is a community outreach program, inspired by “Music in Our
Schools,” in the month of March, to engage music teachers,
student musicians and parents to promote the benefits of
music education programs in schools.
“The All-City
Honor Band serves two purposes; to give D.C. band students a
chance to experience the things all band students around the
country have, to participate in a district band, honor band,
or state band,” said Army Spc. Jacob Kohut, who conducted
today’s band performance, and is a band teacher outside the
military. “In D.C., we saw a need, and we heard the
facilities were really good here, so we reached out to the
band director and she seemed really enthusiastic about
having the honor band perform here.”
The student
musicians played alongside the professional, military
musicians, in harmony to selections such as the “Corcoran
Cadets March,” “Georgia On My Mind,” and more complicated
ones like the “English Folk Song Suite.” The final concert
was the ultimate demonstration of teamwork, coordination,
and at least three days of practice. There was also a
diverse mix of male and female musicians from, different
cultures and wards from across the District. The keynotes
and tones truly heard during this concert were the D.C.
youths’ determination to not let any of these differences
affect their ability to communicate a strong sense of music
appreciation to their audience.
“My band director
told us about this, and nominated the best people in our
band to audition for the honor band,” said Quinn Heinrich, a
senior at Woodrow Wilson High school, who has played the
clarinet since age nine. “It’s much more difficult music
than we play in our band. More committed people for the most
part, and I liked the team-building experience, where we got
to know each other better, ride and talk together a little
more, so it’s good.”
The students attend high schools
in the District. Some of them use the D.C. Metro as a form
of transportation, and so the Columbia Heights Educational
Campus was chosen as the site for the honor band concert
because of its centralized location and easy access from
metro lines.
“I think it makes me understand there’s
more to the military than going to war and getting
deployed,” Heinrich said. ”There’s other opportunities in
it.”
Heinrich said that his positive experience with
the 257th Army Band may certainly have him consider playing
in a college band.
The 257th Army Band is officially
recognized as “The Band of the Nation’s Capital.” It has a
proud lineage going back to the legendary Corcoran Cadets
Corps of the D.C. Militia. Immediately after the Civil War,
public support of the D.C. Militia was high. Drill
encampments were held on the National Mall, and military
parades and marching competitions became spectator events.
The D.C. Militia Corcoran Cadets captured the
attention of John Philip Sousa, who composed both the
“Corcoran Cadets” and “National Fencibles” marches
exclusively for the D.C. Militia. For those who don’t know,
Sousa also composed the well-known “Stars and Stripes
Forever” that is played frequently at Veterans Day parades
and Independence Day celebrations.
The 257th Army
Band has upcoming performances this year, beginning August
3, ending August 9, 2017, in D.C., Virginia, and Maryland.
By Army National Guard by Sgt. Adrian Shelton
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2017
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