Abstract
Photo by Bonnie Denton
For millennia, people have recognized the immense power of music to move hearts and minds. Even for musician-teachers who long ago became entranced by music, it’s astonishing to realize the extent of music’s power across the world throughout history. Consider the huge resources allocated by late eighteenth-century German churches in the employment of music teachers like Johann Sebastian Bach to write weekly cantatas and huge forces of musicians to perform them—to tell the story, to move hearts and minds in ways that only music can. Or consider today’s British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and its extensive government funding of cultural programming, the BBC Orchestra, large classical music festivals (the “Proms”)—originally established, in part, to preserve and further British culture—in ways that only music can. Or consider the United States, with its large contingents of professional musicians employed by military services to, in part, facilitate American patriotism and positive public relations—in ways that only music can. Of course, all of these institutions have undergone battles for resources, much like today’s continual battles to preserve music programs in schools. But somehow, even when governments and individuals stand on cliffs of financial disaster, music endures. Our great music teachers throughout history—including individuals ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach in the eighteenth century to today’s NAfME members—have steadfastly demonstrated to society that music is necessary for our culture’s survival.
Sharing music with students is one of the missions of the U.S. Coast Guard Band.
Beyond recognizing this power of music, American military bands and music educators have long recognized and shared at least one of several missions—to, essentially, help preserve civilization. We realize that each civilization is defined by and survives by its culture. We remind people that when tourists visit a place, they want to experience its art, food, and music. The first things that come to mind when mentioning New Orleans? Not the city’s scientists or mathematicians (as important as they are), but Dixieland jazz bands, brass bands, and food. Rio? Samba. Buenos Aires? Tango. Consider Native American tribes that have applied to the government for federal recognition; a consideration is whether tribe members have continually practiced, no matter how desolate living conditions may have become, their cultural traditions—music and ceremony being important components. American military bands work diligently to preserve the history and culture of their respective military forces, as well as that of America (and therefore its music)—just as music educators work diligently to ensure our engagement with music, and therefore our (and other) cultures. Doesn’t it therefore make sense that military bands and music educators should continue to forge strong partnerships?
In Connecticut, the U.S. Coast Guard Band (one of our nation’s five congressional bands, consisting of fifty-five top-notch professional musicians) is proud to connect with thousands of children and their schools in this music education effort. Each fall, over the course of six days, a total of approximately 6,000 students visit the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, to attend “Young People’s Concerts” performed by the Coast Guard Band. This year’s concert, “Creativity: What Inspires You?,” explored music, inspiration, and creativity. Students clapped, sang, improvised, and used their imaginations as “entry points” to the understanding of art music inspired by art, pop culture, dance, Greek mythology, and other sources. Additionally, each year several chamber groups (subsets of the band) work diligently over the course of several months to design assembly programs for presentation in approximately twenty-five area elementary schools during February—reaching an additional 5,000 students. For example, the Band’s Clarinet Quartet developed a “Clarinet Cruise” that had students discovering and experiencing great music from America, Africa, England, Venezuela, Romania, and China.
We’re proud that the Coast Guard Band reaches such a large number of students each year, but more important is the educational payoff for students, educators, and therefore the Coast Guard. Large numbers of the young public (whether or not they are boaters) gain extended positive experience/exposure to the outstanding professionals of the Coast Guard. These students tell their parents (who vote and pay taxes) how great the Coast Guard is, and they might consider careers in the service or apply to the Coast Guard Academy for college. Educators, via these programs, are able to provide their students with outstanding, entertaining, and educationally sound live music performances free of charge. Ultimately, and most satisfying to me, is the fact that students hear and explore great cultural treasures with some of our nation’s top professional musicians—in a sense, preserving our civilizations, together!
It has been our goal to perform educational concerts that engage students on a deeper level than those of the traditional Peter and the Wolf or Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra approach (as great as those pieces are). Today’s students need to experience live music in a more direct and participatory way, and we have a responsibility to provide that experience. Beyond “naming the instruments,” what if students (for example) could take themselves through the process, if only in their minds, of writing music inspired by a particular dance, and then compare that music, on the spot, to a live professional performance of a similarly inspired work by a great American composer (Warren Benson and his Solitary Dancer)? Or what if students could experience, participate, and hear the defining characteristics of music by American concert music icons (e.g., Charles Ives, John Adams, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington) within the context of a professional performance? Or, what if jazz performers invited students to select familiar tunes or rhythms that were then quoted by the performers in their improvised solos? Kids will hang on every note of a performer’s solo if they’re expecting to hear their own (or their friends’) musical ideas! Educational concerts that incorporate these types of engagement have been emerging in professional concert organizations’ educational concerts, in part, under the leadership of teaching artists such as Eric Booth and the New York Philharmonic’s David Wallace. In recent years, we in the Coast Guard Band have been fortunate to benefit from a partnership with Wallace as we design programs that come closer and closer to this ideal. It is a thrill for performers, students, and teachers to share music together in this way. We look forward to continuing this mission together with you!
The United States Coast Guard Band is the premier band representing the United States Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. The ensemble is based at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. In addition to performing concert tours around the nation, the band has also played in the former Soviet Union, Canada, England, Japan, and Taiwan. In 2008, the Coast Guard Band became the first premier American military band to perform a concert tour of Japan. Concerts are free and open to the public and include a broad spectrum of music, from wind ensemble classics to swinging jazz charts. 
Each fall, Richard Wyman hosts and conducts the Coast Guard Band in concerts designed especially for students. Age-specific programs are presented on particular dates (elementary or middle school), as well as a special version for high school musicians (with optional instrumental workshops). The next concerts are scheduled for late October 2015. See the education tab on the Band’s website (http://www.uscg.mil/band/) for details and information on how to sign up.