Every evening Music for All puts on a concert for students, faculty and the community. Tuesday night we had the honor and privilege of having the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus put on a spectacular concert. The repertoire for the concert ranged all over from traditional Sousa marches, movies scores and even classic Motown hits.

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The evening started with the best rendition of our National Anthem I have ever heard as six French Horns took center stage. The crowd gave a standing ovation at the conclusion and I had chills running through my body. Something about that instrument and the emotion it portrays. Then again, I will admit that I have a soft spot for French Horns. Pure magic!

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Speaking of magical, there were a handful of students that had the opportunity to perform on stage with the band. These talented students had little, if no, prep time for the concert. However, you could not tell as these kids played their hearts out. I could only imagine what was going through their heads being on stage with such a astounding ensemble and I bet this has to be a top highlight of their camp experience.

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There was one piece that brought the house down as the U.S. Army Field Band played “Georgia on My Mind”. The saxophone soloist was the most talented artist I have ever heard. The range was phenomenal and the raw emotion ended up having the biggest standing ovation of the evening.

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The overall theme for the evening was that music can take you anywhere in life. You don’t have to be a music educator to still carry on your passion for music. The men and women we saw on stage last night still get to enjoy and express that passion of music, but at the same time serve our country. That is one thing I love about music and our activity as we have such a wide range of opportunity to include it in our daily life.

And one last thing, I want to give a giant thanks to the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus for the concert! It was definitely a highlight of my week and it was truly positively life-changing not only for me, but for everyone in attendance.