Army band strikes a beat with Yuma music students

When the 36th Army Band of Fort Huachuca strikes up the music, the selections are not all "Stars and Stripes Forever." But its repertoire does summon the true Americana song book, say officials.

Among other reasons, the band is in town to add the grace notes to the U.S. Army Community Signing with the City of Yuma, a pact in which the town pledges to work with and support the military, as well as part of its annual tour stops throughout Arizona that it has been conducting for over a decade, said Yolie Canales, public affairs specialist at Yuma Proving Ground.

At Tuesday's covenant signing will be Yuma Mayor Larry Nelson, County Supervisor Russel McCloud, State Rep. Theresa Ulmer, Secretary of the Army of Arizona for Military Affairs Randy Groft, YPG Commander Col. John Bullington, and YPG Garrison Commander Carol Coleman.

The signing will take place at the Historic Yuma Theatre, 254 Main St. at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a concert that will end at 8:30 p.m., with an encore performance Wednesday evening at the same time and location. The concerts are free but attendees must get tickets before the start at the theater.

On Monday, the band conducted a brief workshop with student musicians at Yuma High School's Snider Auditorium to help them improve and vary their technique.

"This is basically community relations, part of our overall mission," said band pianist Sgt. 1st Class Amy Morgan. "We want to work with students and explain what we are and what we do."

A lot of students are curious to know what military musicians do, she said. Once they complete their basic training, they then must finish six months of training at the U.S. Military Academy of Music.

"We are soldiers first," Morgan said, "but we also provide community relations (accompanying military base ceremonies) and esprit de corps, building unit cohesion."

The Historic Theatre concert, titled, "Snapshot of America," features work from a variety of American composers but the selections focus on the work of Leonard Bernstein and George and Ira Gershwin, as well as an emotional piece titled "Light Eternal," which is based on the story of a war-time sinking of a military vessel in which Army chaplains sacrificed their life vests to save others, Morgan explained.

The program was put together by the band's new commander, Warrant Officer 1 Donna Clickner, who also did the musical arrangements; the band is led by Sgt. 1st Class Robert Stagg.

"I think this is one of the best concerts we've brought to Yuma," Morgan said. "It's very stirring and covers various aspects of American culture."

Sitting in with the 36th Army Band from Yuma High School was Max Garcia 16, a junior who plays snare drum with the high school band. At the performance before the workshop, Max said the army was really precise, something the drum line in the school band currently strives to reach.

"You could tap to it and nothing fluctuated, they were right on top of the beat," Max said. "Their selection expressed their style. It expressed their musicality and how well they could play."

When military band members explained about their concert tours, it was just the sort of thing he would like to do, Max explained.

"They really gave me some insight and I'm now thinking of enlisting," Max said. "I'd love to go to Europe. They were talking about going and I could see myself there."

Unfortunately, Max will not be able to attend the concert at the Historic Yuma Theatre because he has a prior engagement - school band practice. But he said the 36th Army Band's workshop sounded "exciting, really impressive."


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William Roller can be reached at wroller@yumasun.com or 539-6858.