By Maddie Orton
Arts Correspondent
Do you know who’s the largest employer of musicians in the world? The United States Army. Bands perform at inaugurations, parades, concerts and funerals. Through music, they serve as ambassadors to the public. At the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus played to a packed house.
“We’re about on our 24th day on tour out of 38 days, so we’re going strong every night. And we’re just excited to meet this crowd and their enthusiasm,” said First Lieutenant Alexandra Borza, associate bandmaster.
The band and chorus play free concerts like this one across the country.
“We just use this as a vehicle to ensure that the Army story is told — that these veterans aren’t forgotten,” explained Borza.
Borza and her fellow musicians are also, of course, soldiers. They go through basic training and are active duty. Staff Sergeant Michaela Shelton studied vocal performance at Rutgers University. She said this was an unexpected career path for her, and she loves it.
“I love getting the opportunity to perform many different genres, and I love the people that I get to perform for,” said Shelton.
It’s not your typical concert. Band and choir members with family in the audience come out and wave, and perhaps the biggest applause of the night went to someone who wasn’t on stage at all: World War II veteran Bruno Panicucci. The retired Corporal C4 played clarinet in an Army band himself. He knows better than anyone that the soldier aspect of being an Army musician is very real.
“We went right up to the front line, picked up these poor guys that were wounded and brought them back to the jeep. I had a bullet right by my ear,” he said.
How does it feel hearing this music?
“Nice,” Panicucci said. “They’re good. That’s the cream of the crop. Let me tell ya, boy, they’re good.”
Staff Sergeant Timothy Coombs also hails from New Jersey. He says performing for veterans like Panicucci is the best part of his job.
“I don’t think I’ve yet to get through an ‘Armed Forces Salute’ without choking up and not being able to sing certain parts,” said Coombs. “When we sing a service song, and we see all the former military from that service stand up, that’s what it’s all about.”
The U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus will perform a free concert this Sunday at South Brunswick High School before leaving the state for the next leg of their tour.