Master Class: March to a Different Drummer: Military Music Careers

On Thursday, a panel of women from the six premier military bands in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area spoke about careers for musicians in the military. The panel was made up of Sergeant First Class Ginger Turner, U.S. Army Field Band; Senior Master Sergeant Jan Duga, U.S. Air Force Band; Musician First Class Suzanne Rice, U.S. Navy Band; Staff Sergeant Kirsten Lies-Warfield, and Sergeant First Class Tammy Leverone, U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own”; Gunnery Sergeant Kristen Davidson, “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band; and Staff Sergeant Sandra Quaschnick, U.S. Army Band “The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps.” Ernest Toplis, who has served as Director of Operations for the Cincinnati Arts Association since 1997, also joined them onstage.

The group had a beautiful mural with pictures from all of the represented bands set up for session attendees to view. The band members also provided different publicity materials to those in attendance. Each person took time to talk about their band specifically. The primary aspects covered were the different duties that the bands fulfill for their respective branches of the service in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. These included presidential support, state department support, and concert/tour schedules. They also addressed some of the audition processes for military musical jobs. One of the most notable points that became clear during the discussion was that while the bands have common playing duties, each group also has duties that are unique to that particular ensemble.

The session ended with an informative question/answer session. Members of the bands also spent time conversing with individuals informally afterwards.

Submitted by Dr. Susan Rider, trumpet, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band