World-renowned President’s Own Marine Band found time for a visit with Washington Township High School band students
Despite presenting 28 concerts at various venues throughout the past 30 days, two members of the world-renowned President’s Own Marine Band found time for a quick visit to meet with Washington Township High School band students on Oct. 30. Professional musicians Rick Vare (clarinet) and Betsy Hill (flute and piccolo), both master gunnery sergeants in the U.S. Marine Corps, stopped by at the request of music supervisor Bob Frampton to perform, critique, encourage and inspire the school’s band students. Many of the students were among the audience of 1,900 who had attended the band’s concert on Oct. 28 in the school’s Investors Bank Performing Arts Center.
In addition to providing helpful information to senior flutist Gianna Pizzutillo and sophomore clarinetist Colin Ly, Vare and Hill performed “Stars and Stripes” for the students and provided invaluable advice on improving their musicianship and pursuing careers in music.
“My advice to you who hope to pursue music is to practice regularly and work on your pieces judiciously,” Hill said. “All of us, even those of us who have been performing for a long time, experience performance anxiety. If you love what you are doing and are prepared, it helps to ease the nerves.”
Both Vare and Hill, who have been members of the Marine Band for over 24 years, are among 300 musicians who comprise the band. They have performed around the world and for five presidents (George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump) and at scores of history-making events. One of the most memorable for them was a performance at Ground Zero on the one-year anniversary of the attacks of 9–11 for the families of the victims of the tragedy.
“It was a very emotional day, and it was our privilege to perform for those families,” Hill said.
The group has one final concert at the University of Pennsylvania this evening before heading back to Washington, D.C.
