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Military Corner
ITEA Journal
Spring 2011
The Navy Band has a regular ceremonial commitment. One of the most enjoyable is providing patriotic music and the National Anthem for local sporting events, like the Washington Nationals baseball games. Personnel (L-R): MUC (ret) Ben Grant, MU1 Dan Geldert, MU1 Tony Halloin, MU1 James Hicks, MU1 Bobby Behrend, MUCS Karl Hovey. Our Drum Major is a former euphonium player, MUCM Joe Brown.
“Sometimes I bring in my old Alexander CC just for fun, a mid-60s vintage, I think. It was the first horn I ever owned, and I just love the sound!” ~KH
Navy Band brass at full throttle! Note the “bells up” horns. MUCS Karl Hovey and MU1 Tony Halloin, tubas.
SM: What instrument and mouthpiece do you use to perform? KH: The Navy has provided me with wonderful instruments. My daily go-to instrument is the Nirschl York model. It can do it all: delicate pianissimos, easily altered articulations, easily variable tone colors, laying-waste fortissimos, and all done with a full rich sound produced by the most in-tune instrument I’ve ever held. I’ve used it in everything from our smallest to largest ensembles. I also have a Meinl-Weston 2182 that I’ve used to perform and record things like the upper octave of divisi orchestral transcripts (where the tuba part is covering both the bass and cello part) and where there are extended parts with very high tessitura. The Nirschl could have handled these parts, but sometimes it’s easier
for me on an F tuba. I use a Laskey 30H on the Nirschl and a Laskey 28C on the MW. SM: Do you have any “most memorable moments” while you have been with the United States Navy Band? KH: Literally too many to mention: the great players, conductors, music, moments of national import, inspirational venues…but I will share something I’ll never forget. One of my collateral duties in 2001 was in the Administration Office. I was responsible for handling the Navy’s Flash message system, a way for the Navy to communicate with all commands anywhere in the world instantly. On the morning of September 11 someone