An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Marine Band Members
Clarinet
Master Gunnery Sgt. Vicki Gotcher

Clarinetist Master Gunnery Sergeant Vicki Gotcher of Tyler, Texas joined “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in September 1997. She was appointed clarinet section leader in July 2015 and clarinet section commander in August 2018.

Master Gunnery Sgt. Gotcher began her musical instruction at age 10. Upon graduating Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Texas, in 1989, she attended Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in music education in 1993. She continued her education at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., where she obtained a master’s degree in music performance in 1994 and a Performance Certificate in Clarinet in 1995. Her most notable teachers include Will Reavis of Tyler; Russell Dagon, former principal clarinet with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; and J. Lawrie Bloom of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Prior to joining “The President’s Own,” she performed with the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, and Kenosha Symphony both in Wisconsin; the Chicago Civic Orchestra, as well as participated in the Spoleto Music Festival in South Carolina, and  the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge and Aspen Music Festival both in Colorado.

Master Gunnery Sgt. Gotcher performs with the Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra at the White House, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and across the country during the band’s annual concert tour. In 2004, she performed a solo recital and conducted clinics at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Most recently, she performed Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto with the Marine Chamber Orchestra in 2005 and Carl Maria von Weber’s Concertino with the Marine Band in 2007.