JAVS Fall 2012

W ITH V IOLA IN H AND S EMPER F IDELIS : T HE V IOLISTS OF “T HE P RESIDENT ’ S O WN ” M ARINE C HAMBER O RCHESTRA

Master Sgt. Shieh, who has served as Principal Violist since 2004, studied viola with Roberto Díaz and Michael Tree at University of Maryland, College Park, before joining the orchestra in June 1996: “Having been born and raised in the DC metropoli tan area, I had heard about the four local military bands (Marine, Army, Navy, and Air Force). Among these four bands, only three utilize string players (Marines, Army, and Air Force). When an opening came up for viola in ‘The President’s Own,’ I was very excited, because there are only three viola positions in this group and these vacancies can take quite a while to open up.”

The violists of “The President’s Own” Marine Chamber Orchestra; from left to right: Master Sergeant Christopher Shieh, Staff Sergeant Sarah Hart, and Staff Sergeant Tam Tran (photo courtesy of the US Marine Band Public Affairs Office)

by David M. Bynog

The newest member of the viola section, Staff Sgt. Hart, received her Master of Music degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University as a stu dent of Atar Arad before joining in January 2009: “The audition was very much like other orchestra auditions, with a list of required excerpts and a solo of choice. In addition to orchestral excerpts, chamber music excerpts were included to be performed in the finals with Marine musicians.” Members of the orchestra are fully enlisted in the US Marine Corps, and auditions also include an inter view to confirm each candidate’s eligibility for enlist ment. The nature of their work, however, does not require that they attend “boot camp,” and members have no secondary tactical or combat mission. “My duties are specialized in music and focused solely on performing music for the President of the United

Semper Fidelis – Always Faithful. The motto of the US Marine Corps seems apt for the three violists of the Marine Chamber Orchestra: Master Sergeant Christopher Shieh, Staff Sergeant Tam Tran, and Staff Sergeant Sarah Hart, who are all proud of their associ ation with the Corps. One of three ensembles dubbed “The President’s Own,” the Marine Chamber Orchestra has its roots in the US Marine Band. Established by an act of Congress in 1798, the US Marine Band is the oldest continuously active profes sional musical organization in America. While string instruments were sometimes used in the band during the group’s first century, it was not until 1899 that an orchestra was officially added as part of the group. For many years, wind performers were required to double on a string instrument, but this changed in 1955; the Marine Chamber Orchestra now boasts twenty full time string instrumentalists.

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