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REGULAR
DUTIES
Band members are first and foremost members of the First Company
Governor's Foot Guard. This means that they are expected and
required to participate the same required drills, parades, escort duties,
meetings and
training activities as their fellow Foot Guard members from the Infantry
units. On most Monday nights, Band members attend music rehearsals
while members of the Infantry unit go about their weekly training
activities.
OUTREACH DUTIES
In addition to their regular duties and training regimen, Band members
spend several Monday evenings a year away from their armory band room
participating in outreach activities and joint concerts with local college
and public school bands. The Band has visited numerous schools
and have conducted mini clinics and performed joint concerts with the
students. Persons interested in
more information on this are
encouraged to contact the Bandmaster or the Band Manager on the "CONTACT
US"
page.
ADDITIONAL DUTIES
Band members are also responsible for
care and maintenance of their instruments. Depending on the
instrument, this can be time consuming and costly affair. Certain Band members take
this part of their duties so seriously that several older state-owned percussion
and brass instruments recently received extensive cosmetic overhauls at no cost to
the State or the Foot Guard.
ELECTIVE DUTIES
Because Band members are members of the Foot Guard before all else, many
choose to participate in Foot Guard activities outside of their
ensembles. Members of the Band are active in the Foot Guard
Rifle Team, promoting the Annual Dog Show and serve on many of the committees necessary for the smooth operation of the
Command.
Members of the
Band are also active in their support of the Color Guard. Depending on the event, certain Color Guard details can require up to
three percussionists, two trumpet players and a vocalist. In
addition to providing musical support for the Color Guard, members of the
Band are occasionally invited to participate in the actual Color Guard or
Honor Guard detail, carrying a flag or rifle.
One of the most
important activities that the First Company's Band provides is the
rendering of honors by the playing of "taps" at military
funerals. Most of the trumpet players in the band are
registered with the State Military Department to perform this function,
and are usually kept extremely busy with requests for service.
REGULAR
ENSEMBLES
The Band is composed of two basic ensembles, a concert band and a marching
band (referred to in State Statutes as "Band" and "Field
Music"). All members of the Band serving under the Bandmaster are enlisted
personnel, ranging in rank from Private First Class (E-3) to Master
Sergeant (E-8). Just as in other military bands, both ensembles draw
from the same pool of musicians, although these musicians do not
necessarily play the same instrument in both ensembles.
The ensemble
referred to in State Statutes as the "Band" is a concert band
composed of roughly 40 musicians. The instrumentation of this
ensemble is similar to that found in other military and wind bands and
includes clarinets, flutes, trumpets, bassoons, French horns, trombones,
baritones and tubas as well as a full concert percussion section. This is occasionally supplemented by a vocalist and an electric
bass.
The marching
ensemble, referred to in State Statutes as "Field Music", is
composed of roughly 35 musicians. Its instrumentation differs
slightly from the concert band primarily because certain instruments found
in the concert band, such as the bassoon, the electric bass and the French
horn, are not well suited to being played while marching. The
instrumentation of the marching ensemble is similar to military and corps
style marching bands and includes clarinets, flutes, piccolos, trumpets,
marching mellophones, baritones and sousaphones. The marching
percussion unit includes cymbals, side drums, a tenor drum and bass drums,
with the occasional addition of orchestra bells. Master Sergeant Max
Covell is the Drum Major and is responsible for leading the band when it
marches.
ADDITIONAL
ENSEMBLES
The two
basic ensembles that compose the Foot Guard Band are occasionally
supplemented by a brass ensemble and a low brass ensemble. The
brass ensemble is composed of two trumpets, a French horn, two trombones
and a tuba. This group meets weekly for at least one hour before
rehearsals. They perform a variety of literature ranging
from Canadian Brass selections to the occasional German polka. The low brass ensemble is composed of two euphoniums and two tubas and
performs literature similar to that of the full brass
ensemble. The low brass ensemble does not meet regularly and
forms and rehearses as necessary.
The Band's
performance schedule changes from year to year, but it's schedule almost
always includes appearances at the Riverfest celebration, the
Festival of Trees at the Wadsworth Athanaeum, the State Veterans Home and
Hospital and at many seasonal celebrations in the Foot Guard's Armory.
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