It's good to see the Band and one of the musicians in some good publicity. And on the front page of the Post, no less! I enjoyed reading about the process from audition to putting on the uniform.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar ... 5Feb1.html
The President's Own in the Post
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scouterbill
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sinfonian
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For those who don't want to register. 
Of course you miss the nice picture.
Musician Transitions To a Very Different Outfit
The U.S. Marine Band's Newest Recruit Receives a Crash Course in Corps Values
By Michael E. Ruane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 2, 2005; Page A01
He has been to Mr. Sneed's on Eighth Street, across from the barracks, to get a regulation haircut.
He has been to Mr. Yi, next door, to get fitted for his crimson and blue uniforms.
He has learned how to salute: Right hand only. Elbow out. Fingertips to the back of the hat bill, with no palm or thumb showing.
By the way, Marine, it's a cover, not a hat.
And he has been warned against chewing gum in uniform.
Now it is showtime.
This Sunday, recruit Joseph DeLuccio, 27, a carpenter's son from Vernon, N.J., makes his debut with the Marine Corps -- not with a rifle, but with a black, short-barrel, smooth-bore instrument that he will carry throughout his career in uniform.
The oboe.
DeLuccio, who has been in his khaki and olive green service uniform just over a week, is the newest member of the Marine Band, known as the President's Own, which has serenaded every chief executive from John Adams to George W. Bush.
His trip into a Marine uniform bypassed one essential stop made by virtually all other Marines: the 13-week ordeal commonly known as boot camp. Making the Marine band does not require crawling through the mud, being yelled at by a drill instructor or learning hand-to-hand combat. Band members don't learn to fire a weapon because they never expect to use one.
The Marine Band's roughly 130 members are the only musicians, in any military service, to be spared such training, according to Capt. John R. Barclay, executive assistant to the band's director, because they will never be called to combat.
The thinking is that the musicians are a highly trained elite group, the best Marines at what they do, and music should be their focus.
"The average Marine . . . will spend 13 weeks becoming a Marine," Barclay said. "The members of the band spend their whole life preparing . . . to come here."
The band, established by Congress in 1798 and made famous in the late 1800s by composer and conductor John Philip Sousa, is the oldest professional music organization in the country. It is made up of some of the finest musicians in the world.
Once musicians join the band, they tend to stay, often for a decade or more. Master Gunnery Sgt. James Dickey, the retiring musician DeLuccio is replacing, had been with the band almost 28 years.
Barclay said that, though their role in the Corps differs radically from that of the average leatherneck, band members quickly earn, and return, the respect of fellow Marines.
But the transition from the music conservatory to the Marines, to say nothing of the inner sanctums of the White House, can be abrupt, and the lifestyle change drastic. "It's a very, very interesting process," Barclay said last week. "They come here and all of sudden they're wearing the uniform of the U.S. Marine Corps."
So while DeLuccio loves Bach and Mozart, and has been steeped in his profession for over a decade, he had to learn that his MOS (military occupational specialty) is 9811, for Marine Band musician; that he shouldn't go outside in uniform without his cover; and that if the concert begins at 1700, that means it's at 5 p.m.
To ease things, DeLuccio, who is quiet, well-spoken and passionate about his craft, was handed over to Gunnery Sgt. William Kanteres, 29, the band's assistant drum major.
Kanteres, of Manchester, N.H., is a kind of one-man recruit depot. He is also a musician -- a saxophonist -- but he was a member of one of the Marine division bands, underwent recruit training and deployed to Iraq with the division in 2003.
All new members of the Marine Band are turned over to him for indoctrination. "They really belong to him," Barclay said, "until he says that they're ready to go."
DeLuccio's audition last May 10 came after he spotted an advertisement in a well-known music newspaper. The job opening was for someone to play oboe and the similar, but larger, English horn.
DeLuccio had a bachelor's degree in music from Baldwin-Wallace College, near Cleveland, a master's degree in music from DePaul University in Chicago, and was at work on a doctorate in musical arts at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
But a pile of diplomas is no guarantee of work as a musician, a profession in which good, steady jobs can be hard to come by.
"You can't really pick and choose," DeLuccio said.
He had auditioned for six other jobs before this one, including positions with the Toledo Symphony and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He said the rule of thumb is that it takes an average of about 20 auditions to land a solid job.
The Marine Band is renowned and the job pays about $1,850 a month -- the standard rate for a staff sergeant -- with a $1,300 monthly housing allowance, adjusted to match the cost of living in Washington.
He submitted a résumé and was invited to a tryout.
The auditions are always tense -- and the competition intense. Indeed, during clarinet auditions in December, none of the 50 applicants made the grade.
"You essentially get five to 10 minutes to prove yourself," he said. "If you're not feeling good that day, well, too bad. You just have to bring your game and do the best that you can. . . . It's a very, very stressful thing to do."
DeLuccio's audition at the Marine Barracks, at Eighth and I streets SE, was a pressure-packed affair in which he competed against 44 other candidates.
"The standards are high," said Dickey, the retiring oboist, "and the scrutiny is everywhere."
DeLuccio was summoned to play for a five-person selection committee. He was issued a number, 33, and stood behind a screen so the members could not see him.
He walked to the tryout area on a long carpet, which is laid down so the committee cannot tell by the sound of the shoes if the applicant is a man or a woman. The committee wants to be influenced only by the candidate's music.
DeLuccio was asked to play a short but difficult portion of Mozart's "Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in C Major"; a piece from Maurice Ravel's "Le Tombeau de Couperin"; a part from Beethoven's Third Symphony; and a selection from Anton Dvorak's Seventh Symphony.
He was the last of six finalists called back to play again after lunch. This time the screen was gone, there were 10 people on the selection committee, and the pressure was even higher.
DeLuccio played for about a half-hour and at one point performed with one of the band's oboists. Afterward, DeLuccio waited for the verdict with the others in a warm-up room.
Finally, a band official entered and announced: "At this time, we'd like to offer the position to Joseph DeLuccio. Congratulations."
"Wow," DeLuccio thought. "All this hard work has finally paid off."
On Jan. 4, he reported to the new Marine Annex, the band's headquarters, at Seventh Street and Virginia Avenue SE.
There was no time to waste.
This is the band's busy season. Dickey's retirement ceremony was Friday. DeLuccio's first band rehearsal was four days later. His first concert, Sunday, is at the University of Maryland.
He got his service uniforms Jan. 24. He needed help learning how to properly iron the vertical creases in the front of his khaki shirt. Kanteres keeps an iron and an ironing board in his office.
Monday morning, DeLuccio called at Yi's to get his three newly tailored band jackets. He then reported to the band's locker room, where Kanteres showed him, in rapid-fire fashion, how to assemble the uniforms and wear them.
The white belt has to rest above the two gold buttons at the back of the jacket. The gold Marine Corps collar pins has to align with the collar's white piping. And the loop at the end of the braided white shoulder cord hooks over a button at the top of the jacket.
DeLuccio examined himself in a mirror. He looked the part but seemed a little tentative.
"You look good," Kanteres said.
Yesterday, DeLuccio rehearsed with the band for the first time. Wearing a dark green sweater and pants, khaki shirt and gleaming black shoes, he sat in the front row. On his shoulders were staff sergeant's chevrons -- the rank accorded entry-level members.
This transition looked easier. On tap for the rehearsal was music by Sergei Prokofiev, Ottorino Respighi, Charles Ives and Samuel Barber. "It was fun," DeLuccio said afterward. "It was nice to finally get to be doing what I came here to do."
Of course you miss the nice picture.Musician Transitions To a Very Different Outfit
The U.S. Marine Band's Newest Recruit Receives a Crash Course in Corps Values
By Michael E. Ruane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 2, 2005; Page A01
He has been to Mr. Sneed's on Eighth Street, across from the barracks, to get a regulation haircut.
He has been to Mr. Yi, next door, to get fitted for his crimson and blue uniforms.
He has learned how to salute: Right hand only. Elbow out. Fingertips to the back of the hat bill, with no palm or thumb showing.
By the way, Marine, it's a cover, not a hat.
And he has been warned against chewing gum in uniform.
Now it is showtime.
This Sunday, recruit Joseph DeLuccio, 27, a carpenter's son from Vernon, N.J., makes his debut with the Marine Corps -- not with a rifle, but with a black, short-barrel, smooth-bore instrument that he will carry throughout his career in uniform.
The oboe.
DeLuccio, who has been in his khaki and olive green service uniform just over a week, is the newest member of the Marine Band, known as the President's Own, which has serenaded every chief executive from John Adams to George W. Bush.
His trip into a Marine uniform bypassed one essential stop made by virtually all other Marines: the 13-week ordeal commonly known as boot camp. Making the Marine band does not require crawling through the mud, being yelled at by a drill instructor or learning hand-to-hand combat. Band members don't learn to fire a weapon because they never expect to use one.
The Marine Band's roughly 130 members are the only musicians, in any military service, to be spared such training, according to Capt. John R. Barclay, executive assistant to the band's director, because they will never be called to combat.
The thinking is that the musicians are a highly trained elite group, the best Marines at what they do, and music should be their focus.
"The average Marine . . . will spend 13 weeks becoming a Marine," Barclay said. "The members of the band spend their whole life preparing . . . to come here."
The band, established by Congress in 1798 and made famous in the late 1800s by composer and conductor John Philip Sousa, is the oldest professional music organization in the country. It is made up of some of the finest musicians in the world.
Once musicians join the band, they tend to stay, often for a decade or more. Master Gunnery Sgt. James Dickey, the retiring musician DeLuccio is replacing, had been with the band almost 28 years.
Barclay said that, though their role in the Corps differs radically from that of the average leatherneck, band members quickly earn, and return, the respect of fellow Marines.
But the transition from the music conservatory to the Marines, to say nothing of the inner sanctums of the White House, can be abrupt, and the lifestyle change drastic. "It's a very, very interesting process," Barclay said last week. "They come here and all of sudden they're wearing the uniform of the U.S. Marine Corps."
So while DeLuccio loves Bach and Mozart, and has been steeped in his profession for over a decade, he had to learn that his MOS (military occupational specialty) is 9811, for Marine Band musician; that he shouldn't go outside in uniform without his cover; and that if the concert begins at 1700, that means it's at 5 p.m.
To ease things, DeLuccio, who is quiet, well-spoken and passionate about his craft, was handed over to Gunnery Sgt. William Kanteres, 29, the band's assistant drum major.
Kanteres, of Manchester, N.H., is a kind of one-man recruit depot. He is also a musician -- a saxophonist -- but he was a member of one of the Marine division bands, underwent recruit training and deployed to Iraq with the division in 2003.
All new members of the Marine Band are turned over to him for indoctrination. "They really belong to him," Barclay said, "until he says that they're ready to go."
DeLuccio's audition last May 10 came after he spotted an advertisement in a well-known music newspaper. The job opening was for someone to play oboe and the similar, but larger, English horn.
DeLuccio had a bachelor's degree in music from Baldwin-Wallace College, near Cleveland, a master's degree in music from DePaul University in Chicago, and was at work on a doctorate in musical arts at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
But a pile of diplomas is no guarantee of work as a musician, a profession in which good, steady jobs can be hard to come by.
"You can't really pick and choose," DeLuccio said.
He had auditioned for six other jobs before this one, including positions with the Toledo Symphony and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He said the rule of thumb is that it takes an average of about 20 auditions to land a solid job.
The Marine Band is renowned and the job pays about $1,850 a month -- the standard rate for a staff sergeant -- with a $1,300 monthly housing allowance, adjusted to match the cost of living in Washington.
He submitted a résumé and was invited to a tryout.
The auditions are always tense -- and the competition intense. Indeed, during clarinet auditions in December, none of the 50 applicants made the grade.
"You essentially get five to 10 minutes to prove yourself," he said. "If you're not feeling good that day, well, too bad. You just have to bring your game and do the best that you can. . . . It's a very, very stressful thing to do."
DeLuccio's audition at the Marine Barracks, at Eighth and I streets SE, was a pressure-packed affair in which he competed against 44 other candidates.
"The standards are high," said Dickey, the retiring oboist, "and the scrutiny is everywhere."
DeLuccio was summoned to play for a five-person selection committee. He was issued a number, 33, and stood behind a screen so the members could not see him.
He walked to the tryout area on a long carpet, which is laid down so the committee cannot tell by the sound of the shoes if the applicant is a man or a woman. The committee wants to be influenced only by the candidate's music.
DeLuccio was asked to play a short but difficult portion of Mozart's "Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in C Major"; a piece from Maurice Ravel's "Le Tombeau de Couperin"; a part from Beethoven's Third Symphony; and a selection from Anton Dvorak's Seventh Symphony.
He was the last of six finalists called back to play again after lunch. This time the screen was gone, there were 10 people on the selection committee, and the pressure was even higher.
DeLuccio played for about a half-hour and at one point performed with one of the band's oboists. Afterward, DeLuccio waited for the verdict with the others in a warm-up room.
Finally, a band official entered and announced: "At this time, we'd like to offer the position to Joseph DeLuccio. Congratulations."
"Wow," DeLuccio thought. "All this hard work has finally paid off."
On Jan. 4, he reported to the new Marine Annex, the band's headquarters, at Seventh Street and Virginia Avenue SE.
There was no time to waste.
This is the band's busy season. Dickey's retirement ceremony was Friday. DeLuccio's first band rehearsal was four days later. His first concert, Sunday, is at the University of Maryland.
He got his service uniforms Jan. 24. He needed help learning how to properly iron the vertical creases in the front of his khaki shirt. Kanteres keeps an iron and an ironing board in his office.
Monday morning, DeLuccio called at Yi's to get his three newly tailored band jackets. He then reported to the band's locker room, where Kanteres showed him, in rapid-fire fashion, how to assemble the uniforms and wear them.
The white belt has to rest above the two gold buttons at the back of the jacket. The gold Marine Corps collar pins has to align with the collar's white piping. And the loop at the end of the braided white shoulder cord hooks over a button at the top of the jacket.
DeLuccio examined himself in a mirror. He looked the part but seemed a little tentative.
"You look good," Kanteres said.
Yesterday, DeLuccio rehearsed with the band for the first time. Wearing a dark green sweater and pants, khaki shirt and gleaming black shoes, he sat in the front row. On his shoulders were staff sergeant's chevrons -- the rank accorded entry-level members.
This transition looked easier. On tap for the rehearsal was music by Sergei Prokofiev, Ottorino Respighi, Charles Ives and Samuel Barber. "It was fun," DeLuccio said afterward. "It was nice to finally get to be doing what I came here to do."
David C. Ellis
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia-Alpha Lambda Chapter
Crystal Lake Concert Band
Northwest Symphony Orchestra
Woodstock City Band
McHenry County College Band
Wessex TE665 "Tubby" Eb
Kanstul 90S CC For Sale
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia-Alpha Lambda Chapter
Crystal Lake Concert Band
Northwest Symphony Orchestra
Woodstock City Band
McHenry County College Band
Wessex TE665 "Tubby" Eb
Kanstul 90S CC For Sale
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Captain Sousie
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scouterbill
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Yeah, I here you. I hesitated before posting. I grew up outside of D.C. and spent many summer nights sitting on the banks of the Potomac (and the Capitol steps and the Sylvan Theatre. . .) swatting skeeters and listening to these fine bands. I was thrilled to see this good article, and decided to share it, even if it is about one of those musicians that support the low brass section. 
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Leland
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Hey, most bands (including the tubas, I hope) tune to the oboe. Not that it's necessarily correct, mind you, but that its sound is very distinct and clear and, unlike every other instrument besides keyed percussion, it's a royal pain to correct its pitch.
The article itself is a pretty informative account of the entrance into the Marine Band. Seeing that any tuba or euph audition for the ensemble is one that draws quite a bit of attention on TubeNet, I think it's worthwhile reading.
The article itself is a pretty informative account of the entrance into the Marine Band. Seeing that any tuba or euph audition for the ensemble is one that draws quite a bit of attention on TubeNet, I think it's worthwhile reading.
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WoodSheddin
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scouterbill
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My last reply was done with my tongue at least partially planted in my cheek. I used to give drummers a hard time (somewhat deserved) until I heard a concert a couple years ago. It was the 440th Army Band (North Carolina N G) in Blowing rock NC. They played the National Anthem. I have played it and have heard it countless times. For some reason I focused on the cymbal player. He was making MUSIC out of those two round pieces of Brass!!! I don’t think I had ever heard cymbals played that way before. So Even Drummers can be musicians too! (When they are lucky enough to be employed)
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Leland
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Yup -- I thought I said that (towards the end, anyway), but "least flexible" is a more succinct term.WoodSheddin wrote:The oboe is also one of the least flexible pitchwise.Leland wrote:Hey, most bands (including the tubas, I hope) tune to the oboe.
I didn't know how bad it was until flute/double-reed class in college. Even a well-built reed's pitch is so much at the mercy of environmental factors that it can't always be guaranteed to play at A=440 (or whichever).
I decided that the basic design of the oboe is 300-ish years old not because it had been perfected... but because they realized that it just couldn't be fixed.
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WoodSheddin
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Ooops. My feeble mind stopped reading too soon. You had already mentioned it.Leland wrote:Yup -- I thought I said that (towards the end, anyway)WoodSheddin wrote:The oboe is also one of the least flexible pitchwise.Leland wrote:Hey, most bands (including the tubas, I hope) tune to the oboe.
I decided that the basic design of the oboe is 300-ish years old not because it had been perfected... but because they realized that it just couldn't be fixed.
sean chisham
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Mark
If he was making music, he was not a drummer. He was a percussionist.scouterbill wrote:For some reason I focused on the cymbal player. He was making MUSIC out of those two round pieces of Brass!!! I don’t think I had ever heard cymbals played that way before. So Even Drummers can be musicians too!
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rascaljim
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