Clarinetist Master Sergeant Harry Ong of Seattle joined the “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in September 2003.

Master Sgt. Ong began his musical training at age 9. He attended Roosevelt High School in Seattle for three years and graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Mich., in 1999. He attended the University of Michigan (U-M) in Ann Arbor, where he received a bachelor of music in 2003.  He has studied with Fred Ormand of U-M, and Richard Hawkins and Dan Silver at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Prior to joining “The President’s Own,” Master Sgt. Ong performed with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Band, and Contemporary Directions Ensemble; the Seattle Youth Symphony, and the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra in Los Angeles.

Master Sgt. Ong 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, he performed Luigi Bassi’s Clarinet Solo and Concert Fantasia on Motifs from Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto. He premiered Michael Daugherty’s Brooklyn Bridge in 2006. He has conducted clinics nationwide and has participated in the Marine Band’s Music in the High Schools educational program. He also performed Artie Shaw’s Clarinet Concerto as a 2009 tour soloist and again in 2010 at Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts’ Summer Blast Off! at the Filene Center.