Percussionist Staff Sergeant Alexander Garde of Boxborough, Mass., joined “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in March 2022.

Staff Sgt. Garde began his musical training on percussion at age 5. After graduating in 2016 from Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, he attended the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he earned a bachelor’s of music in 2020. His teachers at the New England Conservatory included Daniel Bauch, Will Hudgins and Matthew McKay. Staff Sgt. Garde also attended the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, where he studied with Matthew Strauss.

Prior to joining “The President’s Own,” Staff Sgt. Garde performed at the Round Top Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and the Atlantic Music Festival. He has performed in the Young Artist Program with DaCamera, a Houston-based chamber music and jazz organization, and was a founding member of Alinéa Ensemble, a contemporary music ensemble in Boston.

Staff Sgt. Garde performs with the Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra at the White House, in the Washington, D.C., area, and across the country during the band’s annual concert tour.