BHS students get their fix and perform with USAF Band By ANNETTE ESTERHELD Staff Writer
Bowie High School band director Charles Fix and 20 of his band students will join the U.S. Air Force Concert Band in its upcoming concert Tuesday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Bowie Center for the Performing Arts.
"This is a great opportunity for the students to perform with some of the highest calibre musicians in the country and perhaps bolster their interest in military bands," Fix told the Blade-News.
The students will join the band in playing "King Karl King," a march by Henry Fillmore. Fix will actually be wielding the baton for that march and he's "thrilled" to conduct the Air Force band. "I was very surprised and excited when they asked me to conduct this piece," said Fix, who knows a number of the band members.
The concert band is one component of the U.S. Air Force Band that has been around since 1941 and the various musical groups have performed live for over 100 million people worldwide and millions have heard them through radio and television broadcasts.
Master Sgt. Michael Piersol, one of several Bowie area musicians in the group, told the Blade-News the concert band is pleased to be returning to the BCPA stage for a second concert.
Piersol said the band will be playing a diverse program that includes classical and show tunes. "Tech. Sgt. Eddie Sanders III, a bassoonist for the band, will perform the 'Concerto in F Major for Bassoon,' movements 2 and 3, by Carl Maria von Weber," he said.
Piersol, who is the band's marketing and outreach representative, said Sanders is the principal bassoonist with the concert band and that he began his Air Force career in 2000. Sanders, a graduate of Towson University, was winner of the Yamaha Soloist Competition while he was in undergraduate studies at Towson. He also won first place in the Sydney Lieberman Music Competition, second place in the Peggy Gordon Competition and was a finalist in the National Symphony Concerto Competition.
Master Sgt. Matthew Irish will lend his deep bass voice to two favorite Broadway selections, "They Call the Wind Mariah" from "Paint Your Wagon" and "Some Enchanted Evening" from "South Pacific."
Irish is a bass vocalist with the U.S. Air Force Singing Sergeants, the official chorus of the U.S. Air Force. He has both a bachelor's degree in music education and a master of music in conducting degree. Before joining the Air Force, Irish worked with the Orchestra of New Spain, the Helios Ensemble and the Forth Worth Chamber Orchestra, all in Texas. As a Singing Sergeant, Irish has sung across the country in a variety of venues from the Avery Fisher Hall in New York City to the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Calif.
Piersol said Maj. Scott A. Guidry will be conducting the band at the BCPA. Guidry, who is executive officer to the U.S. Air Force's chief of music, has been part of the Air Force since 1993. Originally from Louisiana, Guidry is a graduate of Loyola University of New Orleans. Before entering the Air Force, he directed band at Carenero and Lafayette high schools, earning numerous superiors (the top award) at the district and state levels.
In his 14 years with the Air Force, Guidry has performed throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Western Asia. In 2000, he was named Air Force Band Officer of the Year.
Piersol said the concert band is the largest musical ensemble of the U.S. Air Force Band and it presents over 100 concerts annually and performs a variety of repertoire from Broadway to classical works and original works for concert band. The band has an international reputation, but Piersol said the group is "continually striving to find new venues where we can share our music."
All concerts by the U.S. Air Force Band are free and open to the public. There's no need to call ahead for tickets for the May 20 performance at the BCPA. Seating is first-come, first-served. For information about this concert and the band's upcoming Summer Concert Series, call the 24-hour concert line at 202-767-5658 or visit www.usafband.af.mil.
