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UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY BAND - WEST POINT BAND
The West Point Band, the U.S. Army’s oldest active band and the oldest unit at the United States Military Academy, traces its roots to the Revolutionary War. At that time, fifers and drummers were stationed with companies of minutemen on Constitution Island, across the river from West Point. In 1778, General Samuel Holden Parsons’ 1st Connecticut Brigade crossed the Hudson River and established West Point as a permanent military post. After the American Revolution, Congress disbanded most of the Continental Army, but “the 55 men at West Point,” members of the 2nd Continental Artillery, remained. Among their ranks stood at least one drummer and one fifer, who alone maintained the tradition of military music at West Point.

With the establishment of the United States Military Academy in 1802 came an increased demand for military music. As the academy grew, it needed fifers, drummers and buglers to drill the new cadets and provide an audible order to their duty day. In 1817 the ensemble was named the “West Point Band,” and by this time was performing on a full range of instruments, which included two bassoons, two Royal Kent bugles, a tenor bugle, ten clarinets, three French horns, a serpent (an early bass horn), cymbals, a bass drum, eight flutes, and two trumpets.

Today’s band consists of four components: the Concert Band, the Jazz Knights, the Hellcats and Support Staff. They combine to form the Marching Band. The organization fulfills all of the official musical requirements of the Academy, including military and patriotic ceremonies, public concerts, sporting events and radio and television broadcasts, as well as social activities for the Corps of Cadets and the West Point community.

As the senior premier musical representative of the United States Army, the band has appeared at many historical events. It performed at the dedication of the Erie Canal; at the Chicago and New York World’s Fairs; and for the funerals of Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin D. Roosevelt as well as the inaugurations of numerous presidents. Additionally, the West Point Band has collaborated with some of the finest musical ensembles in the country, including the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Pops. Members of the West Point Band have also been showcased in Carnegie Hall and featured on The Today Show, 60 Minutes, Dateline NBC as well as on documentaries occurring on The History and Discovery Channels.

THE CONCERT BAND
The Concert Band has a history marked with several world-class performances and close associations with renowned composers. Percy Grainger, one of the first composers to fully utilize the unique instrumentation of the wind ensemble (other than to substitute for orchestral instruments), often called upon the band at West Point to proofread his new compositions. Additionally, Mr. Grainger appeared as a soloist with the band on several occasions between 1937 and 1951. In 1940, the Concert Band premiered Mr. Grainger’s work Hill Song #2. The band also enjoyed its relationship with American composer and conductor Morton Gould. His 1952 contribution to the sesquicentennial of the United States Military Academy, Symphony for Band, commissioned by the Concert Band, still stands as a staple in the contemporary wind band repertoire.

Some of the major concert venues the West Point Band has performed include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Tanglewood, and the Meyerson Symphony Center.

At Carnegie Hall, the West Point Band premiered Morton Gould's Symphony for Band, conducted by Gould, in celebration of the U.S. Military Academy's sesquicentennial in 1952. Fifty years later, the band returned to Carnegie Hall to celebrate the Academy's bicentennial with selected works from more than 35 commissions that honored the 200-year tradition. Composers who wrote for that project include Samuel Adler, Eric Ewazen, Donald Grantham, Joseph Turrin, and James Kimo Williams.

The West Point Band's popular concert series attracts thousands to West Point each year for displays of world class musical talent. Recent artists to perform with the West Point Band include Joseph Alessi (principal trombone of the New York Philharmonic), Jay Ungar and Molly Mason (Grammy-winning folk duo who performed music on Ken Burns The Civil War), Larry Combs (retired principal clarinetist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a West Point Band alumnus), Caissie Levy (Broadway and L.A. Wicked star), John McDermott (PBS - The Irish Tenors), Lea Salonga (Les Miserables and Miss Saigon), and Philip Smith (principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic).

THE HELLCATS
The Hellcats, an ensemble comprised of buglers and rudimental drummers from the West Point Band, has played an influential role in over 220 years of musical tradition at The United States Military Academy. Their legend began early in the American Revolution, when units of George Washington’s Continental Army, including fifers and drummers, established the garrison of West Point in January of 1778. Following the Revolution, West Point remained an active federal garrison upon the formal establishment of the United States Military Academy in 1802. During this period, fifers and drummers assigned to artillery and engineer units at West Point perpetuated the pragmatic nature of field music.

During the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the War Between the States, the drum was the primary source of battlefield communication. Throughout the day it signaled various orders, and its steady beat established the cadence for road marches and troop movements. The bugle served an increasingly important role starting in the 1800’s. Army commanders grew more dependent upon the bugle's bold, brilliant sound to present commands both in camp and over the din of battle.

The Hellcats' mission today is to provide musical support to the U.S. Corps of Cadets. In addition to sounding Reveille and Retreat at the garrison flagpole, the Hellcats perform a myriad of ceremonial functions, including military reviews and parades. Each weekday they provide music as the cadets march into the mess hall. As the football season nears the annual Army vs. Navy game, special Hellcat arrangements of traditional West Point gridiron songs fan the Army fighting spirit. Hellcat buglers and drummers also have the honorable task of performing muffled drums and Taps for West Point funerals. In 1994, the Hellcats participated in the deactivation parade of the Allied Strike Force as it made its final departure from the city of Berlin. The Hellcats have also been featured at various military tattoos throughout the United States and Canada.

In 2002, the group performed in Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra and for the Fourth of July with the Boston Pops Orchestra. In 2004, the ensemble traveled to Orlando, Florida to participate in festivities honoring Flag Day at Walt Disney World. Recently, the ensemble performed with the Virginia Grand Military Band and was showcased at the Blossom Festival, the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra, as a part of its Fourth of July festivities. Members of the Hellcats have also been showcased on The Today Show, Fox and Friends, 60 Minutes, Dateline NBC as well as on documentaries occurring on The History and Discovery Channels.

Equipped with instruments designed and hand-made specifically for them, the Hellcats enable the West Point Band to maintain faithful renditions of traditional American military music while providing the Corps of Cadets with a piece of living history.

THE JAZZ KNIGHTS
Bringing over three decades of musical excellence to their audiences, the West Point Band’s Jazz Knights present the best in big band favorites, popular music, and original compositions and arrangements for jazz ensemble. They are recruited and selected through a competitive audition process specifically for service in the United States Military Academy Band at West Point.

The Jazz Knights’ highlights over the years include playing with Benny Goodman at Lincoln Center in 1982, performing with the Duke Ellington Orchestra for the 200th Anniversary of the New York State Legislature, and twice appearing at the Hatch Shell for Boston's Independence Day celebration. The Jazz Knights have also performed for festivals and music educators' conventions, including the International Association for Jazz Education conventions, the Western International Band Clinic, the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Festival, the International Society of Bassists' convention and the New York State Band Director’s Association Conference in 2008.

At West Point, the Jazz Knights provide music for numerous functions throughout the year. In combination with the Concert Band and field music unit, the Hellcats, they help fulfill official musical requirements of the Military Academy and the Army, including military and patriotic ceremonies both at West Point and throughout the country. The Jazz Knights also perform for the summer concert series at the Trophy Point Amphitheatre and for the winter concert series at Eisenhower Hall. Their performances recreate the sounds of the greatest jazz ensembles and the innovative styles of today through their original compositions and arrangements.

THE MARCHING BAND
Marching music at West Point began at about the time of the American Revolution. Companies of Minutemen stationed on Constitution Island, across the Hudson River from West Point, had musicians assigned to carry out signaling and marching duties. At least fifty-five field musicians and a Band of Musick crossed the Hudson River in 1778 with General Parsons' 1st Connecticut Brigade and established West Point as a permanent post. Although many changes have occurred over the years, music continues to be an aspect of daily life for the cadets and soldiers at the Academy.

In General Washington's time, the marching band consisted of fifes and drums. During the Civil War, West Point bandsmen used instruments pointed over their shoulders so that the cadets marching behind them could hear the music and keep in step. At every point in our nation's history, both soldiers and the Corps of Cadets have marched to the martial aires of the band at West Point.

Today's Marching Band continues the tradition by performing marches that span our military history. The band has marched in inaugural parades for fifteen American presidents. It has trekked along New York's Fifth Avenue numerous times; marched at the Rose Bowl Festival in Pasadena, California and trooped the streets of Tokyo. In 1985, the West Point Band led the veterans of the war in Vietnam across the Brooklyn Bridge and down Broadway, through streams of ticker tape, for their long-overdue homecoming. In recent years, the band has been nationally televised twice, performing the pregame and halftime activities for the Buffalo Bills AFC playoff games.