Top Brass and Then Some: The West Point band plays more than Sousa marches

Barrymore Laurence Scherer writes over at OpinionJournal.com (March 2, 2005, Leisure & Arts) about musicians at the U.S. Military Academy, past and present. This is just a sampling.

After the U.S. Military Academy's founding in 1802, the need to provide drill music for the cadets grew, and the continually expanding ensemble was officially named the "West Point Band" in 1817, and given its present name in 1866. At that time the band included eight flutes, 10 clarinets, three French horns, pairs of bassoons, bugles, trumpets, drums and cymbals, not to mention a brass serpent, a snorting precursor of the tuba, complete with engraved scales, eyes and fearsome mouth.

Serpents have long since passed from the scene, and the band's duties now embrace much more than the traditional appearances supporting the cadets on the parade ground, at sporting events and patriotic ceremonies...

and later, this:

While many players make West Point their permanent home, some, according to Col. Rotondi, have gone on to other positions, among them former USMA clarinetist Larry Combs, now the Grammy-winning principal clarinet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Others, like Master Sgt. William Treat, a 45-year-old flutist, took a break in service and returned thereafter. Sgt. Treat auditioned for the band in his senior year at Florida State University and came to West Point after basic training in 1982. He left the Concert Band to pursue a doctorate at the University of Washington, finishing his dissertation on flutists and flute-playing in 18th-century America in 1991. "I had considered going into academia," he says, "but about halfway through my program I decided that I was put on earth to play." Luckily his successor at West Point was leaving. "So my old job was offered to me again without having to re-audition."

For anyone who has the time and inclination:

The USMA Band and its ensembles can keep your toes tapping with a full slate of free public concerts and recitals throughout the year. For more information, contact the band at 845-938-2617 or go to their Web site (www.usma.edu/band/).