Hello, fellow horn players. A few days ago I perused the archives of the horn list and read through the numerous messages regarding "The President's Own" United States Marine Band and the Marine Chamber Orchestra. As a member of the Band, I would like to correct some of the factual errors and answer some of the questions which arose.
1. "The President's Own is not considered part of the regular Marine Corps. Officially it is a component of the Marine Corps Reserve but for paper pusher purposes only." Members of the Band are in fact members of the U.S. Marine Corps. We are not in the Marine Corps Reserve. 2. "My understanding from talking to the few "Devil Dogs" that are in the President's Own is that you can keep the crossed rifles if you are a Staff Sergeant and above until you are promoted, then you revert to a music lyre." All members of the band (MOS 5511) wear the chevrons with lyres. 3. Regarding the Gigapan photo of the inauguration: "There are horns on the near side next to the tubas, and there are horns on the opposite side next to the trombones. What sort of arrangement is that, and who plays what?" "I'm curious about the three people to the left (as viewed) of the horns, who have no instruments. Surely it doesn't take three to operate a fire extinguisher. I am the horn player next to the Marines in question. They are the two Assistant Directors of the band and two librarians. The Directors are there because, in all likelihood, they will one day lead the band at an inauguration. They must observe the event, as inaugurations are high profile and only occur every four years. It is true the horns were split into two sections on opposite sides of the band. Some other sections were divided as well. Over the years, Directors of the band concluded this was the best arrangement of the musicians given the limitations of the space. 4. "Don't expect them to play Bartók, Stravinsky or any of the More Modern Classical Composers' music for you." The band plays a great deal of modern music, more than any ensemble with which I've worked. Anyone familiar with the repertoire for concert band might assume this. The Marine Chamber Orchestra does fewer public concerts, as they are usually tasked at the White House, but a quick skim of concert programs from the past couple years demonstrates performances of music by James Cohn, Miklos Rozsa, Ernest Bloch, Aulis Sallinen, John Beall, and Lukas Foss. Anyone may check the band website at www.marineband.usmc.mil to see concert programs. 5. "They have a Pool of about 120 security-checked string, wind, percussion, harp, and keyboard players, so that they can accommodate any classical symphonic work. (I was told that they play a number of works for Baroque Orchestra, using Chamber String Players and Harpsichord.) For works requiring a much larger orchestra, they have an Extended Pool of security-checked musicians." "The President’s Own” consists of about 120 wind, brass, percussion, string, and combo players and about 30 full-time support staff. This pool of musicians is necessary to accommodate the more than 800 performances that take place annually (500 public, 300 White House). We only perform works for which we have the personnel. 6. "Whereas THEY have Admitted to being INcapable of playing Bartók-styled canons" Composers who submit unsolicited compositions to the band have their music catalogued and added to the library. These pieces are considered by the three Directors of the band for future performances. There is nothing in the library database authored by Bear Woodson. In my opinion, we have played some extremely challenging modern music in my five years in the band. We have commissioned works from such noted composers as Melinda Wagner, David Chaitkin, and David Rakowski. The band tours extensively in the Fall and the band, the Marine Chamber Orchestra, and Marine Chamber Ensembles perform regular free public concerts in the Capital area throughout the year. Marine Band recordings are found in schools and music libraries nationwide and some selections are available for free download on our website. The band is full of highly professional and dedicated Marine musicians. The other military bands in town are excellent as well. Please check us out if you have the opportunity. Best regards, Gabriel Gitman Staff Sergeant _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
