Marine Barracks Annex, Washington, D.C. -- This week marks the final Marine Band performances by mezzo-soprano Master Sgt. Sara Sheffield—it’s the end of an era. Sheffield was the band’s first female vocalist and has served for 20 years singing at the White House and the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ residence as well as performing regularly in the Washington, D.C., area and across the country during the band’s annual concert tour. Conducted by Associate Director Major Ryan Nowlin, Sheffield will perform four pieces specially-selected as she wraps up her vocal career. The free concerts will take place at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 16, at the John Philip Sousa Band Hall in Washington, D.C., and 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, at the U.S. Capitol; the Wednesday concert will also livestream.
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Program and Notes
“The audience is going to love this program because as I am at the twilight of my career, we’re featuring one of our new Staff Sergeants, clarinetist Jacob Moyer, on this amazing Verdi piece,” Sheffield said. “He’s doing the excerpts from La traviata on clarinet; I’ve always loved the melodies that the sopranos and tenors sing. And to hear them on clarinet—the melodies that I grew up listening to, since my Italian mom played Verdi in the house—it will be really great and the audience is going to love seeing this Marine musician do his thing.”
The program begins with two American works: Karl King’s march, “International Peace,” and Kimberly Archer’s Fanfare Politeia, commissioned by “The President’s Own” for the 59th Presidential Inauguration. The fanfare was premièred by the band live on international television during the pre-ceremony performance, as part of a small collection of new fanfares written for the occasion. Following these two selections, Moyer will perform Donato Lovreglio’s Fantasia on Themes from Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata.
Moyer first discovered the piece from his clarinet teacher while he was an undergraduate student, and he has continued his studies with the same teacher through his master’s degree and currently his doctorate, so he’s looking forward to having his teacher in the audience. “He’s an outside of the box musician, super expressive when he plays, and he’s never boring,” Moyer said. “Just getting to hear him play is one of the best part of my lessons; It’s inspiring to hear what he does naturally, so it’ll be so exciting to have him in the audience!”
Moyer loves the clarinet showpiece because “it has a little bit of everything—flashy parts and beautiful recognizable melodies that most people will know even if they have never seen the opera.” And even though he has played the piece before, he notes that when coming back to a piece he has as different relationship with it than at first.
“It’s sort of like reading a book,” Moyer explained. “Life experiences change you and you come back to the book as a different person.” He added, “it’s exciting to listen to and to see whether or not I’ll crash and burn. It’s like watching someone do an acrobatic stunt—are they going to fall or are they going to make it?”
The band will then play a concert band staple: Gustav Holst’s Suite No. 1 in E-flat, Opus 28, No. 1. Following the Holst, the band will accompany the band’s mezzo-soprano vocalist’s set of favorites. Upon Nowlin’s generous gift of half the program, Sheffield specifically selected the grouping in order to include each of the arrangers she has worked with throughout her career: Master Sgt. Stephen Bulla (USMC, ret.), Major Ryan Nowlin, and Gunnery Sgt. Scott Ninmer. “I wanted to showcase each of their talents,” Sheffield said, “and demonstrate the cohesiveness of the way they all were able to write for my voice and for the Marine Band. They each have their own distinct style but they also fit within the Marine Band sound.” (Note: Music by former arranger Master Sgt. Donald Patterson (USMC, ret.) was featured on the August 9 program).
Sheffield said, “We programmed Maj. Nowlin’s arrangement of ‘Pardon My Southern Accent,’ from In the Words of Johnny Mercer, because when I got the job almost 20 years ago, I didn’t realize how much public speaking there would be. I went into opera because I never wanted to speak in public. I thought as long as I could sing, I wouldn’t have to talk and no one would hear my Texas drawl. I’ve always been very self-conscious about my accent, so this song is my tribute to my Southern roots and my Southern upbringing. I love that I get to sing the word y’all.”
Following Nowlin’s arrangement, Sheffield will perform Bulla’s arrangement of “Blues in the Night,” by one of Sheffield’s favorite composers, Harold Arlen, and Ninmer’s arrangement of Cy Coleman’s “I’m a Brass Band” from Sweet Charity. “That was just another tune that I really like,” Sheffield admitted. “But I also like that it’s a song that talks about band and it describes the joy and emotion of being a clarinetist or harpist or in a marching band during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I love the idea that the emotions that you experience of happiness and joy and love are also the same ones that you experience when you hear a marching band.”
Sheffield decided to close out her singing career with “The President’s Own” with Nowlin’s arrangement of Stephen Schwartz’s “For Good” from Wicked. The mezzo-soprano offered the following on the selection:
“I chose ‘For Good’ because I love the musical Wicked. I saw it when it came through D.C. more than 10 years ago at the encouragement of Major Nowlin. He told me to go see it, that it would be worth the price of the ticket. So I went and it was amazing, and we then did an entire Wicked arrangement and took it on tour through the Midwest…when we were going through Kansas, of course it made sense because of the Wizard of Oz. But I chose for this to be my final piece to sing with the band because to me it speaks to the amazing people that you get to meet and work with in your life. There are so many things that you can learn from these people and carry with you. You take something from these people and these moments – it changes you ultimately, hopefully for the better. For good. So that’s why I chose to end with this. It’s kind of a thank you to all the people who have helped me along my path.”
Sheffield admits that she’ll miss making music with the musicians of the band—“it’s a real gift to work with these musicians … these friends. I recently looked in my journal at the date I was offered the Marine Band vocalist position, and in my journal I had written things like ‘chance of a lifetime’ and ‘dream come true.’ It really has been a dream come true.”
While the ensemble will play good, cornerstone pieces of Marine Band repertoire, to include the Holst and even John Philip Sousa’s iconic march, “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” Sheffield promises that “it’s a traditional Marine Band concert where there’s something for everyone.” Traditional, yes. But also the end of an era, but an era that was for good.
Schedule is subject to change. Inclement weather cancellations will be made by 6 p.m. the evening of the concert and posted on Marine Band social media and website.