3 minute read
Military Composer Shares Strength Through Music
Captain Dan Boothe ’06, U.S. Air Force, did not make eye contact. On the plane, he stood in salute along with the other airmen during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. As he watched a transfer case of a fallen soldier lowered from the plane, without seeing them, he heard the desolation of the bereaved family.
Using this moment, the assistant director of operations and associate conductor of the premier U.S. Air Force Band in Washington, D.C., drew the inspiration needed to compose “Music for a Dignified Transfer.” Voluntarily written in 2014 for Air Force Mortuary Affairs, it is the custom music for videos each family receives to document the dignified transfer of their fallen loved one.
“The music I wrote grew out of my own need to process that experience,” Boothe said. When he thought about this, he connected to the loss already experienced by so many others.
During his deployment in Afghanistan, he continued to create and perform his music.
“The only difference was, sometimes we had to dive for cover, literally, in the middle of a song because the Taliban would shoot mortars toward our position,” he said.
Though his unit dealt with 110-degree sand-blown days, lived in tents and small trailers and missed their families, they knew they had to adapt to deployment.
For Boothe, this meant meeting the local musicians.
“They invited our musicians to join them in a small community house where they shared food, stories and, of course, music,” Boothe reminisced, “We all brought some handheld instruments and they had theirs. Together everyone just jammed and shared different musical bits … looking for ways that we might add to one another so we could create one ensemble.”
This brought two diverse groups together and transcended barriers in communication. Afghanistan’s second largest radio station aired the results during a live call-in show.
As with this example, Boothe can make the most out of a situation, crediting some of this ability to his time as a music major at Radford University.
“At Radford, I learned the value of making the most of what you have,” he said.
Encouraged to tap into faculty experience, students studied under a range of musicians who had trained at Yale or performed with Leonard Bernstein.
“Radford University challenged me academically while also championing my core identity as an artist and music student,” he continued.
The University nominated him for USA TODAY’s 2004 College Academic All-Stars “First Team” competition. This annual contest recognizes the top college students in the country.
He shared this recognition with recipients from schools such as Yale, Princeton and Harvard. With the combination of opportunity and challenge Radford University provided, Boothe competed academically while standing out artistically.
He is currently a full-time conductor in the U.S. Air Force, one of three conductors with the premier U.S. Air Force Band in Washington D.C.
During the 2016 holidays, he conducted the U.S. Air Force Airmen of Note jazz band on the Hallmark Channel’s Lighting of the National Christmas Tree Celebration. He worked with celebrities such as James Taylor, Marc Anthony, Garth Brooks and Kelly Clarkson. But then he found himself in a unique position onstage with the 44th U.S. President, Barack Obama.
“Is the band ready?” the president asked Boothe.
Boothe gave him the thumbs-up and his band began the holiday classic “Jingle Bells.” ■
