Doing this is always a thrill, whether I’m playing trombone or conducting. In 2021, I gave a masterclass for the trombone section of the Northshore Concert Band, based in Evanston, Illinois. I was impressed with the playing of these players and their enthusiasm for both the trombone and for great music making. During the course of our time together, I encouraged the NCB trombone section to make a video of them playing TheStar Spangled Banner and send it around to Chicago-area professional sports teams and see if they could get an opportunity to perform the National Anthem at a game. They liked the idea, made a video, submitted it to teams, and they were delighted when the Chicago White Sox invited them to play the National Anthem at a game at Guaranteed Rate Field on the south side of Chicago.
I was happy for the group when Joe Schorer, one of the band’s trombone players, told me about this, and I was honored when they asked if I would be willing to conduct the Anthem. Yes, of course! I knew this would be a special, memorable occasion for the Northshore Concert Band’s trombone section and I was glad to share the moment with them. Here’s a little bit of the story.
Northshore Concert Band trombone section (left to right: Mitchell Clark, Brad Say, Bryan Tipps, Andy Burkemper, Greg Glover, Joe Schorer, Paul Bauer, and Dan DiCesare) with Douglas Yeo, conductor. Rehearsal outside of Guaranteed Rate Field (Chicago White Sox), August 27, 2022. Photo by Chad Leonard.
We all assembled outside of Gate 4 at Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, where we had a rehearsal. While I had played and conducted the National Anthem at sporting events many times before, it was really great to share the experience with the NCB trombone section for whom this was all new. I had recently had surgery on my right shoulder and I asked if my son-in-law, Chad Leonard (who has been a baseball fan since his childhood), could come along to help me carry food, open doors, etc. As it turned out, Chad acted as our official photographer. With his own and Joe’s cameras in hand, Chad documented the whole experience. But, full disclosure, our family are Chicago Cubs fans. But, hey, baseball is baseball, and for one day, Chad and I were glad to put aside the north and south side Cubs/White Sox rivalry and enjoy a great day at a ballpark. As soon as the trombone section started playing at our rehearsal, I knew this would be an terrific performance of the National Anthem. The players had memorized the music (we played an arrangement by Robert Elkjer) and they were at the top of their game.
Members of the Northshore Concert Band trombone section (front to back: Andy Burkemper, Brad Say, Dan DiCesare, Bryan Tipps, and Greg Glover). Security check outside of Guaranteed Rate Field (Chicago White Sox), August 27, 2022. Photo by Chad Leonard.
After our rehearsal outside of Guaranteed Rate Field, we went through security (trombone cases and their contents had to be examined) and we headed into the ballpark and then on to the field for our soundcheck.
Northshore Concert Band trombone section (left to right: Mitchell Clark, Brad Say, Bryan Tipps, Andy Burkemper, Greg Glover, Joe Schorer, Paul Bauer, and Dan DiCesare). Sound check inside Guaranteed Rate Field (Chicago White Sox), August 27, 2022. Photo by Chad Leonard.
The White Sox staff was well-organized, friendly, and exceptionally helpful, and we ran through the Anthem several times. The sound of eight trombones coming over the extensive network of speakers throughout the ballpark was impressive.
View of the field at Guaranteed Rate Field (Chicago White Sox) from Section 346, August 27, 2022. Photo by Douglas Yeo.
The White Sox gave each of us a ticket to the game, and in between the soundcheck and our performance, we got to check out view from our box seats in Section 346. Pretty great. Shortly before the start of the game, we headed down to the field again to get ready for our performance. But first, there was time for photos on the field and with the White Sox’s mascot, Southpaw. Meeting Southpaw was, somehow, very appropriate. Because of my shoulder surgery, I had to conduct mostly with my left arm. When I told my students at University of Illinois that I’d be conducting the National Anthem left-handed at a White Sox game, one of them piped up, “Of course you’ll be a southpaw. You’ll be on the south side [of Chicago]!” Hardy-har-har. . .
Douglas Yeo with Chicago White Sox mascot “Southpaw” and members of the Northshore Concert Band Trombone section (left to right: Joe Schorer, Andy Burkemper, Greg Glover, and Mitchell Clark), August 27, 2022. Photo by Chad Leonard.
And, I have to say, there is something about standing on the field in a Major League Baseball stadium next to a team’s logo that just can’t be described.
Chad Leonard and Douglas Yeo, Guaranteed Rate Field (Chicago White Sox), August 27, 2022.
We assembled near home plate, and as the teams lined up in front of their dugouts, the announcement for our performance began. And in a memorable one minute and thirty seconds, the Northshore Concert Band trombone section gave a stirring rendition of TheStar Spangled Banner for the players and crowd. When we were done playing, White Sox Manager Tony La Russa turned around and applauded the players. It was a job well done in every respect.
Northshore Concert Band trombone section (left to right: Mitchell Clark, Brad Say, Bryan Tipps, Andy Burkemper, Greg Glover, Joe Schorer, Paul Bauer, and Dan DiCesare) National Anthem performance at Guaranteed Rate Field (Chicago White Sox) with Douglas Yeo, conductor, August 27, 2022. Photo by Chad Leonard.
Northshore Concert Band trombone section (left to right: Mitchell Clark, Brad Say, Bryan Tipps, Andy Burkemper, Greg Glover, Joe Schorer, Paul Bauer, and Dan DiCesare) National Anthem Performance at Guaranteed Rate Field (Chicago White Sox, August 27, 2022). Photo courtesy of the Chicago White Sox.
Friends who are reading this: If you’re part of a trombone section or a group of trombone players who like to play together, consider doing this! Major League baseball teams have 81 home games. And there are minor league and independent league teams, too. Football, basketball, hockey, soccer, too. That’s a lot of National Anthem performances. The Northshore Concert Band trombone section asked themselves the question, “Why not us?” and look what happened. And why not YOUR trombone section? Have a look at the video below (the video is courtesy of the Chicago White Sox) and put yourself in the moment (you can also watch the video directly on YouTube):
Congratulations to the Northshore Concert Band trombones—(left to right as we performed) Mitchell Clark, Brad Say, Bryan Tipps, Andy Burkemper, Greg Glover, Joe Schorer, Paul Bauer, and Dan DiCesare. They made their Band proud, and their excellent, respectful rendition of The Star Spangled Banner was the traditional, ceremonial start to another game of America’s pastime, baseball. Once again, I would to thank the NCB trombone section for asking me to lead them in their performance of the National Anthem. I was proud to be associated with them. Well done, Northshore Concert Band trombones!
Today is Independence Day in the United States of America. It’s a holiday; banks, the post office, and the stock market are closed. Friends of ours are coming over to our house later today and we’ll have dinner together. Grills across the country are firing up and families are having cookouts and picnics. There will be patriotic concerts, and fireworks will light up the night sky.
Of course, July 4 is more than all of that. This holiday isn’t just a day off. It’s a day to remember July 4, 1776, when a group of of representatives from the Thirteen Colonies gathered to sign a Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. The cause was justice and freedom, and these brave individuals signed their names under the Declaration’s final sentence:
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor
They were serious. Very, very, serious. They put everything on the line for justice and freedom.
The first monument to the Revolutionary War erected in the United States, 1799. Lexington (Massachusetts) Battle Green.
My wife and I lived in Lexington, Massachusetts, for over 27 years during the time I was bass trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was in Lexington where “the shot heard ’round the world” was fired on April 19, 1775, the first battle of what came to be called the American Revolution. Lexington’s Battle Green is full of monuments, including the first Revolutionary War monument in the United States (photo above), erected on July 4, 1799, and around which are buried the bodies of the eight Colonial militiamen who died on that April morning. Take a moment to read the inscription. And think of the eight men who died, whose names are inscribed on the tablet. They had families, friends, occupations. And they sacrificed everything for the cause of justice and freedom. If you live in the United States, they died for your freedom. And my freedom, too.
Our country is facing great challenges right now. I can’t fix all of them. Neither can you. But like anyone who is reading these words, I can do something. I can start—you can, too—by emulating the fruits of the Holy Spirit, as outlined in the Bible, in Galatians 5:22-23:
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
That’s a good place to start. Then, in the words of the old gospel song by Ina Duley Ogdon:
Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,
Do not wait to shed your light afar;
To the many duties ever near you now be true,
Brighten the corner where you are.
I look to the promise of the Declaration of Independence. We have imperfectly implemented its aspirational goals that so many have died to defend. But my father often said, “The United States has the worst system of government in the world. Except for all the others.” I have been around the world; I have visited 30 countries. I love many things about all of them. But the United States is home to me, and our system of government and governing, and our country—though full of imperfect, sinful people, and creaking under great stress right now—is still worth fighting for. Just because we haven’t fixed it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying to fix it. I hold on to the promise of the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence, and I work to implement it with my thoughts, words, and deeds:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [and women] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
Douglas Yeo at home in Valley Stream, New York. Memorial Day, 1960.
When I was a boy, I lived in Valley Stream, New York. We moved there in spring, 1960, from Queens, New York, and I began kindergarten that fall. That’s me, above, on Memorial Day, 1960. I don’t have that flag anymore (a good eye will notice that flag I’m holding has only 48 stars—Alaska became the 49th state on January 3, 1959, and Hawaii became the 50th state on August 21, 1959), and the Volkswagen Beetle parked in our neighbor’s driveway long ago went to a junkyard. But the American flag still waves. It is a beacon of hope, a symbol of the promise that we citizens of the United States of America should work every day to fulfill.
Dr. Howard Clark was my pastor for several years in the 1980s. He closed Sunday morning worship services with this benediction, below. It is based on some of the words of the Apostle Paul, his First Letter to the Thessalonians, 5:12–15. I call it to mind every day because it reminds me of how I should think and act as one who has one foot in the Kingdom of God, and one foot in that place I call home here on earth, the United States of America:
Now go into the world in peace.
Have courage; hold on to that which is good.
Honor all men and women; strengthen the fainthearted, support the weak.
Help the suffering, and share the Gospel.
Love and serve the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Promotional photo from a brochure produced by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, for concerts by the Boston Pops Orchestra, early 1990s. The brochure tapped into the fact that the encore for every Boston Pops concert was John Philip Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever. Photo of Douglas Yeo by Michael J. Lutch.
Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Whether it was singing in my elementary or high school choir, singing in church and Sunday school, playing trombone in the school band since I was nine years old in fourth grade, singing or playing the trombone around the piano at home with my mother at the keyboard, listening to the radio or records, cassettes, compact discs, or streaming, or my long career as a professional trombonist, music and I have been close friends for a very long time.
After graduation from Wheaton College in 1976, I became a “professional” musician. First as a free-lance player in New York City—where I subbed in several Broadway shows (The King and I and Sweeney Todd), played some concerts with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra and the American Symphony Orchestra, subbed in several big bands (Dave Chesky Band, Gerry Mulligan Band), was a member of the Goldman Band—then as band director at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Edison, New Jersey, and then as bass trombonist with the Baltimore Symphony (1981-1985) and Boston Symphony Orchestra (1985-2012). Since I retired from the BSO, I’ve been a full-time college professor (Arizona State University, 2012-2016), a part-time college professor (Wheaton College, 2019-present), I’ve written and published several books and many articles, and I continue to give recitals, give guest masterclasses and make guest solo appearances, and play in professional musical groups.
That’s me playing trombone in March 1965; I was nine years old, in fourth grade. My youngest brother Curtis, who was two years old at the time, is strumming my guitar.
But, after these more than 45 years in the professional music world, I’ve never lost my connection to the world of music where most of the music making in the world takes place. Think about this. The world. The WORLD. Think about all of the professional music making you know of. Symphony orchestras, and the stars of jazz, pop, rock, SKA, you name the style—the myriad forms of popular music. Put them all together. Then think about the WORLD. Children singing and playing instruments in school and at home (like my brother, Curtis, and me, playing guitar and trombone in the photo above), families singing in church and other houses of worship, your dad singing in the shower. Indigenous people in remote places singing and using instruments in ceremonies. Town bands and orchestras and choirs. Add it up. And when it comes right down to it, when you consider all of the music making in the whole WORLD, non-professional music making probably comes in at something like 99.9999999+% of all of the music making going on. It’s not the professionals who keep music alive in the world. It’s everybody else. Because everybody—every one of the 8 billion people on earth—makes music. And only a very, very, very small number of those music makers are professional musicians.
And I love this spirit of non-professional music making. When people make music simply because they love it, because it makes them feel good when they play or sing, because they love being with friends who play with them and not because it’s a job, or they’re going to it in order to get paid cash money, it’s different than playing with professionals. Of course, professional musicians are highly accomplished, and they contribute greatly to the artistic health of society. But the non-professional groups and individuals with which I’ve been associated over the years, whether when I’ve conducted high school honor bands, or when I was music director of the all-volunteer (and unpaid) New England Brass Band (1998-2008), always give me special joy. Because the spirit of those kinds of groups is different than the spirit in professional groups, no matter how great they are. And I like that spirit of the 99.9999999+% of all music makers in the world.
The 1972-1973 McDonald’s All-American High School Band, Tournament of Roses Parade, January 1, 1973, Pasadena, California. I am in the front line of the band, third from left (marching on the double white line).
From 1967 to 1992, McDonald’s Corporation selected two high school seniors from each state (later they added students from Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands). Each year, the band took part in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York City, and over the years, the McDonald’s All-American Band also marched in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California (as I did), played concerts in Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, made television appearances, and performed in a host of venues. In 2019, several alumni of the McDonald’s All-American Band got together and formed the All-American Alumni Band. After an initial gathering and concert in St. Louis in 2019, the coronavirus pandemic scuttled further events. That is until last week, when 55 former members of the McDonald’s All-American High School Band met near Columbus, Ohio, as the All-American Alumni Band, to play a concert and march in a Memorial Day Parade. I am so glad I took part in this.
The All-American Alumni Band (visit the band’s website at www.AllAmericanAlumniBand.org to learn more about the band) came together to rehearse at First Baptist Church in Grove City, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. The band’s Board of Directors, who we affectionally refer to as the “Mc8,” had done a great deal of work to ensure a first-class event. Band members from around the country—from Massachusetts to California, from Minnesota to Louisiana—arrived, instruments in hand and ready to play. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. How would this group of musicians—some of whom went on to careers as professional musicians, others who were or are music educators, and others who, today, play their instruments only occasionally—come together? Would we sound good? How would we get along?
The All-American Alumni Band in rehearsal at First Baptist Church, Grove City, Ohio. Russel Mikkelson, conductor. Photo by John Parker (drum major, 1974, 1975, 1976, representing Pennsylvania).
It didn’t take long to find out. The spirit of the All-American Alumni Band was beautiful. Truly beautiful. Nobody pushed and shoved to play a first part. Everyone was encouraging toward everyone else. Professionals sat next to amateurs. Nobody showed off. Nobody preened. What happened was beautiful and very simple in a profound way: We made music together because we loved making music together.
Douglas Yeo with Russel Mikkelson, Director of Bands at Ohio State University and conductor of the All-American Alumni Band, May 2022. It is not lost on me that Russ is wearing an Ohio State Wind Symphony sweatshirt and I am wearing a University of Illinois Marching Illini shirt and we are standing next to each other with smiles on our faces. That’s not the usual posture when people from different schools in the Big 10 Conference get together!
The Mc8 had engaged the right conductor to lead us. Dr. Russel Mikkelson is director of bands at Ohio State University. Russ is recognized as one of the finest collegiate band conductors in the world and if any of us were a little worried that he might present a heavy handed “maestro” vibe to the group, we found out quickly that he was with us. Russ conducts a community band, and he knew exactly how to lead our group. He understood why we came together and what we hoped to accomplish. And in five three-hour long rehearsals, he transformed our group of diverse players into a fine ensemble.
My All-American Alumni Band sash, badge, pins, and lanyard.
Our Mc8 had devised a uniform for each of us to wear for our concert and parade. An All-American Alumni Band polo shirt was common to both our concert and our parade, and for the parade, we added a baseball hat and a sash that had the year and the name of the state we represented when we were members of the McDonald’s All-American Band. It was a fun look, and combined with our name badges, pins, and lanyard—the lanyard was provided to band members thanks to Donna O’Bryant, clarinet, 1980 (representing New Mexico)—we felt like we belonged to something truly special.
Douglas Yeo and Wycliffe Gordon, Worthington (OH) Town Green, May 29, 2022, .
One of the great joys of the weekend was the many connections I had with people in the band. Some of them I expected. Such as sitting in the trombone section with my good friend, jazz trombonist Wycliffe Gordon. Wycliffe and I have been friends since 1999 when the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra—of which Wycliffe was a member at the time—played a joint concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Since then, we’ve enjoyed getting together many times—we often refer to each other as our “brother from another mother”—and when I heard he was going to be the featured soloist with the All-American Alumni Band, I was thrilled. And this: Wycliffe was a member of the McDonald’s All-American High School Band in 1984 (representing Georgia). Not only that, Wycliffe’s wife, April Brumfield (trumpet), was also in the McDonald’s All-American High School Band in 1984 (representing Kentucky). That’s where they met. Seriously!
Beth Cullen Johnson and Douglas Yeo, Worthington (OH) Town Green, May 29, 2022. We’re standing in front of a banner for one of the All-American Alumni Band’s sponsors, Holowicki’s McDonald’s Restaurants of Central Ohio. Photo by Ed Crockett.
But there were more unexpected connections. Beth Cullen Johnson (flute) came for the reunion. She had been in the McDonald’s All-American Band the same year as me, 1972 (representing Minnesota). We had a lot to talk about as we remembered our time together in New York City and Pasadena.
The trombone section of the 1972-1973 McDonalds All American Band, Los Angeles (CA), January 1973. Photo by Beth Cullen Johnson.
Beth even brought along a photo she took of our trombone section outside of a McDonald’s restaurant in Los Angeles (above). That’s me in the back row, second from the right, crouching down for the camera. Beth also attended Wheaton College in 1973–1974, a year before I transferred to Wheaton College from Indiana University. We knew a lot of the same students and teachers from that time and our conversations last week were very rich.
Douglas Yeo and Mary Haller, Worthington (OH) Town Green, May 29, 2022.
Mary Haller was there, too. Mary is a flute player who was in the McDonald’s All-American High School Band in 1978 (representing Michigan). Mary had worked at the Boston Symphony Orchestra for a few years when I was a member of the orchestra. I remembered her working in the BSO’s public relations and youth activities offices and we had a lot to talk about as we reminisced about the orchestra, and particularly about our interactions with conductor Leonard Bernstein.
Douglas Yeo and Kim Scharnberg, Worthington (OH) Memorial Day Parade, May 30, 2022.
There was also Kim Scharnberg, President of the All-American Alumni Band. Kim, a trombonist who was in the McDonald’s All-American Band in 1977 (representing Iowa) is a noted composer and arranger and I had played many of his arrangements when I was a member of the Boston Symphony/Boston Pops. We sat next to each other in the All-American Alumni Band trombone section and we talked ourselves hoarse over the weekend.
Douglas Yeo and René Shapiro,May 29, 2022, Worthington (OH) Town Green.
I also reconnected with René Shapiro, trumpet, who was in the McDonald’s All-American Band in 1989 (representing California). I first met René when he came to New England Conservatory of Music in Boston in 1990 as a freshman. He subsequently played periodically with the Boston Symphony as a substitute and extra player and since 2005, he has been assistant principal trumpet in the Baltimore Symphony. Our connections to Boston were very rich and it was such a pleasure to march and play next to him in the parade. He was a fantastic anchor to our trumpet section.
Douglas Yeo and Mary Ann Swiatek, May 27, 2022.
There were many other connections as well, but the one that completely surprised me was a true “blast from the past.” At the band’s first rehearsal, each of us gave a brief introduction of ourselves. I mentioned that I had been a high school band director many years ago and when I was done speaking, a clarinet player in the front of the band turned around, pointed at me, and exclaimed, “And he was my band director!” You could have knocked me over with a feather. Mary Ann Swiatek was a freshman at St. Thomas Aquinas HS in Edison, New Jersey, in the fall of 1980. That was my last year teaching at STA; I joined the Baltimore Symphony the following year. I remembered Mary Ann, who was a very talented clarinetist (I seated her first chair, first clarinet during her freshman year). But when I left STA—in an era before cell phones, the Internet, email, or social media—I didn’t follow the progress of my former students. I had no idea that Mary Ann had been selected for the McDonald’s All-American Band in 1983 (representing New Jersery), or that she earned a PhD and is now a psychologist in private practice in Pennsylvania. No. Idea. Now I know, and I’m very happy that I learned all of this. I’m so proud of Mary Ann. It was so nice to spend time with her and talk about our shared time together so long ago, and then make music together with the All-American Alumni Band.
Wycliffe Gordon masterclass with the Worthington (OH) High School Jazz Band, May 29, 2022. Photo by John Parker.
Part of the mission of the All-American Alumni Band is to “passionately foster and nurture the art of instrumental music through partnership, education, and performance.” To this end, the band forged a partnership between the Worthington (OH) High School Jazz Band and Wycliffe. With several members of the All-American Alumni Band in attendance, Wycliffe conducted a masterclass for these young high school players. The jazz band also performed a set of tunes before the All-American Alumni Band played our concert on Sunday evening (May 29) and Wycliffe joined them for a solo as well. It was inspiring to hear this jazz band of talented players share the stage with us and meet with many of them after the concert.
The Town Green in Worthington (OH). The Thomas Worthington High School Jazz Band is visible at the right of the photo and the All-American Alumni Band is getting ready to perform. May 29, 2022.
Our concert was on the Town Green in Worthington, Ohio, the day before Memorial Day. It was just the right kind of program for this kind of event including America the Beautiful, an Armed Forces Salute, music by Chick Corea, Leonard Bernstein, and, of course, John Philip Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever.
Douglas Yeo and Wycliffe Gordon performing Michael Davis’ Trombone Institute of Technology. Town Green, Worthington (OH), May 29, 2022. Photo by Angelia Trevathan.
Wycliffe was the featured soloist in several of his own pieces, and he and I played a duet, Michael Davis’ Trombone Institute of Technology. The crowd was enthusiastic and appreciative, and it was very clear that the band’s performance made a positive impact. And isn’t that ultimately what we want to do as musicians: make an impact on our audiences while sharing our talents and love of music with them?
Dr. Russel Mikkelson conducting the All-American Alumni Band, Town Green, Worthington (OH), May 29, 2022.
The next day, Memorial Day, the All-American Alumni Band marched in the Worthington Memorial Day parade.
Linda Steele (wife of Bill Steele, alto saxophone, 1968, representing Alabama), and Angelia Trevathan (wife of Carl Trevathan, trombone, 1976, representing Kentucky) holding the All-American Alumni Band’s banner before the Worthington (OH) Memorial Day Parade, May 30, 2022. Photo by Carl Trevathan.
Marching in the parade was a thrill I had not had in a very, very long time.
The All American Alumni Band, Worthington (OH) Memorial Day Parade, May 30, 2022. Photo by Maria Leigh Hobbs, wife of John Hobbs (alto saxophone, 1978, representing Florida).
The last time I marched in a parade was on New Year’s Day at the 1973 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, when I was a member of the McDonald’s All-American Band. That was forty-nine and one-half years ago. My guess is the same could be said for most members of our All-American Alumni Band. Marching in a parade is not something we do every day in adulthood. Truthfully, the band isn’t getting any younger. Since McDonald’s Corporation suspended the All-American Band program in 1992, no new alumni have been minted. The age of our members is no secret—we were all seniors in high school during the year emblazoned on our sash. I’m 67 years old (I was in the band in 1972) but I wasn’t the oldest player in the All-American Alumni Band. We had one member, Bill Steele, who was in the McDonald’s All-American Band in 1968. René was the youngest; he was in the band in 1989. You do the math. Our band members were between around 50 and 71 years old. I wondered how our group would hold up. We might not be “old geezers” (well, maybe I am. . .) but there’s no way around the fact that none of us are quite as spry as we were in our youth. Still, it was such a joy to take part in the parade with these friends. We played Centennial March; it was written by our own Kim Scharnberg for the occasion. Sporting our uniforms with American flag pins buttoned to our sashes, we stepped off in style.
The All American Alumni Band, Worthington (OH) Memorial Day Parade, May 30, 2022.
And a host of memories came flooding back. Just like it happened in 1972 when I stepped off with the McDonald’s All-American Band for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, I heard people in the crowd exclaiming to their children, “Look! That woman’s from Minnesota! And he’s from New Jersey! And one from California!” Children got a geography lesson as we marched by, and the multi-generational crowd enthusiastically cheered us throughout the parade route. What they saw was a band of people who love music, who love making music together, and who came together thanks to a remarkable opportunity each member shared as a member of the McDonald’s All American High School Band. What a reunion.
Carl Trevathan and Wycliffe Gordon,Town Green, Worthington (OH), May 29, 2022. Photo by Angelia Trevathan.
When the parade was over, our bus took us back to our hotel and it was time to say goodbye. Hugs and a few tears, yes. So many people worked so hard to make our Memorial Day 2022 reunion possible. Our Mc8 was at the center of all of this. And we had help from many spouses of band members—they were affectionately dubbed our “roadies”—who helped out in a host of ways. Band members also pitched in whenever there was something to do—put up and take down the rehearsal and concert setup, pack up and unpack the truck, prepare a pizza party after the final rehearsal, and so much more. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t send a special shoutout to trombonist Carl Trevathan (1976, representing Kentucky). Carl is a founding member of the All-American Alumni Band’s board of directors and he did so much to organize and make the weekend possible. I know I speak for every member of the band when I say, “THANK YOU, CARL!”
After the weekend was over, the All-American Alumni Band produced a short video of highlights from the reunion. You’ll hear me in a couple of voiceovers and you can watch the video on YouTube by clicking HERE or by watching it below:
Memorial Day 2022 is over. But we will be back. The band is playing another concert this year in St. Louis over Labor Day Weekend. Unfortunately, I won’t be there because I am committed to take part in a special event at Duke University with the New Caritas Orchestra at the same time, part of the Duke Initiatives in Theology and the Arts. But I will be back with my friends in the All-American Alumni Band, no doubt about it. I had a such a great time, and it was a wonderful reminder of how “professional musicians” don’t have the corner on the market of engaging music making.
The All-American Alumni Band after its final rehearsal at First Baptist Church, Grove City (OH), May 29, 2022. Photo by Thalassa Morton Naylor (clarinet, 1977, representing Colorado).
And if you are reading this and you are an alumnus of the McDonald’s All-American High School Band, we’d love to have you join us. Visit the All-American Alumni Band’s Website at www.AllAmericanAlumniBand.org, or our Facebook page (which is only open to former members of the McDonald’s All-American High School Band), www.facebook.com/groups/AllAmericanAlumniBand. Please consider being among us at our next gathering, and the next one, and the next one. Take it from me, you will have a great time. And if you’re not a former member of the McDonald’s All-American High School Band but want to come hear one of our upcoming performances (a listing of upcoming events is on the website), we’d love to see you, and you’ll have a great time, too.
Music can do that.
[Header image of the All-American Alumni Band marching in the Worthington (OH) Memorial Day Parade, May 30, 2022, by Maria Leigh Hobbs.]
Thursday, November 25, was Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, a national holiday when families and friends gather together for fun, food, and fellowship. This year, we were blessed to have our whole family together for Thanksgiving, something we missed in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Even in the midst of the pandemic storm, we all have so much for which we are thankful.
This year, our grandson, who is in kindergarten, brought home a fun assignment for Thanksgiving weekend. It was a kind of scavenger hunt—watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and check off a list of things you see. Marching band, clown, singer, baton twirler, drums, turkey, big balloon. You get the idea. It was a fun little project that Caleb completed in about three minutes. But it didn’t take a scavenger hunt for our family to watch the whole parade. We watch it every year because in 1972, I was marching and playing trombone IN the parade. And in the Tournament of Roses Parade every January 1.
In 1967, McDonald’s Corporation established the McDonald’s All-American High School Band. In its early years, it was a marching band with 101 players—two high school students from each of our 50 states and one student from the District of Columbia. Over the years, the band grew to include members from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and eventually, McDonald’s added a jazz band to its All-American Band program. In 1992, McDonald’s discontinued the All-American Band although it continued sponsoring its All-American basketball teams which it had founded in 1977.
In the fall of 1972 I began my senior year in high school; by then I had been a member of many high school honor band and orchestra groups. These were in both New York State—where my family lived in Queens and Valley Stream until my father changed jobs and we moved to New Jersey in 1970—and in New Jersey, where we lived in Oak Ridge. All-County Orchestra and All-State Band (New York), Region Wind Ensemble and Orchestra, and All-State Orchestra (New Jersey), and All-Eastern Orchestra. Unbeknownst to me, my high school band director nominated me for the McDonald’s All-American Band.
I vividly remember the day in September 1972 when I was sitting in English class (my favorite class in high school, with my favorite teacher, Mr. Patrick Clancy) at Jefferson Township High School in Oak Ridge, New Jersey, and a call came over the loudspeaker for me to come to the main office. Puzzled—getting called to the office was not a regular thing for me—I headed down to the office and was surprised to see my mother running up the hallway to meet me. She was holding an envelope and when we met, she breathlessly handed it to me. I took one look at the return address and my heart skipped a beat. I furiously tore open the envelope and this letter was inside:
For a 17 year-old high school kid, this was big. Really, really big. Me, an All-American High School musician? An all-expenses paid trip to march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York City and the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California on New Year’s Day? Seriously?
My name badge for the McDonald’s All-American High School Band, 1972–1973
I took the bus from our home in Oak Ridge, New Jersey to Manhattan to join other members of the Band for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. We were drilled in marching by Al G. Wright, Director of Purdue University Bands. There were 16 trombones in two ranks that led the parade. I was assigned to the second rank. I was a little disappointed, since what trombone player doesn’t want to be in the first line, leading the band? But my disappointment changed to joy when Al Wright pointed to the player in front of me. It was clear that he had two left feet. After a couple of rehearsals, Al Wright pointed to him and barked, “YOU! MOVE BACK TO THE SECOND RANK. NEW JERSEY! GET UP HERE NOW!” I was now in the front, and I made sure Mr. Wright knew that I had a left and a right foot. Yes, sir!
Promotional flyer about the McDonald’s All-American High School Band that was handed out at New York metropolitan area McDonald’s restaurants, fall 1972
The founder and conductor of the McDonald’s All-American High School Band was Paul Lavalle, the celebrated music director at Radio City Music Hall who had also led the Cities Service Band of America from 1948–1956. While we were in New York, the band attended a show at Radio City Music Hall where we saw the newly released movie, “1776” and saw Mr. Lavalle conduct Radio City’s orchestra and its famous dance team, The Rockettes. We also gave a performance at the famous ice rink at Rockefeller Center.
Paul Lavalle, founder and director of the McDonald’s All-American High School Band 1972,
Each band member wore their own band’s uniform and then McDonald’s gave each of us a hat and overlay that was emblazoned with our state name. The parade in New York City was a blur. It was cold. I remember that we got up at 3:00 in the morning to be bussed down to the Macy’s store at 34th Street and Sixth Avenue for a rehearsal in front of cameras. All of the brass players were playing on plastic mouthpieces so they did not freeze to our faces. As the parade kicked off, spectators often called to us, “Hey, New Jersey! Do you know Fred Jones in Bayonne?” Ha! We marched, we played, we were proud. My parents and my girlfriend (now my wife of 46 years) and her family watched me on TV. It was a great, great day.
Jeffrey Venho, trumpet (Glen Rock High School, New Jersey), Betty White (television commentator hostess of the 1973 Tournament of Roses Parade), Paul Lavalle, Salli Noren (Tournament of Roses Queen, 1973; her name is often misspelled as “Sally Noren”), Douglas Yeo, trombone (Jefferson Township High School, New Jersey), November 1972.
Among the things we did in New York was have our photograph taken for local and national publicity. The other person selected to play in the Band from New Jersey was trumpeter Jeffrey Venho from Glen Rock High School (I recently learned that Jeff attended the Juilliard School of Music and since graduation in 1977, he has been an active freelance player in New York City, and trumpet professor at Hofstra University). We were photographed with Betty White (yes, that Betty White) who was the television commentator hostess of the Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1 (John Wayne was the Parade’s Grand Marshall), Salli Noren, who was the 1973 Tournament of Roses Queen, and Paul Lavalle. When we arrived in California, we were given a copy of our photo, signed by Mr. Lavalle. Also while we were in New York, members of the Band had the opportunity to audition for Gunther Schuller, President of New England Conservatory of Music. NEC was offering two full scholarships to Band members. While I did not win one of those positions, I finally did get to NEC, as a member of its trombone faculty from 1985 to 2012 for all of the years I was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
The cover of the official program for the 1973 Tournament of Roses Parade
The 1973 Tournament of Roses program listing for the McDonald’s All-American High School Band
A two-page advertisement for the McDonald’s All-American High School Band, pages 33–34, 1973 Tournament of Roses Parade program.
If the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York was a surreal experience, nothing could have prepared me for the Tournament of Roses Parade. I flew from JFK International Airport in New York to Los Angeles International Airport where a limousine was waiting to take me to the UCLA campus where we would be staying. A limousine? For me? I recall, as I got to curbside at LAX, stopping and looking for a moment at a palm tree, the first palm tree I had ever seen (except for watching episodes of “Hawaii-Five-O” on television). Having left snowy and cold New Jersey a few hours ago, that palm tree got my attention. While I had been born in Monterey, California (my father was in the US Army, stationed at Fort Ord in Monterey from 1953–1955), my family took the long train east to Queens, New York, after my father was discharged—when I was just a few months old—so for all intents and purposes, this was my first trip to the west coast. Al Wright drilled us in marching all around the UCLA campus, and the Band went to see a performance of Leonard Bernstein‘s Mass at the Los Angeles Forum.
The Band also took part in the daily parade down Main Street at Disneyland—Hey, Tom Brady! You’re not the only person who’s going to Disneyland! After the parade, we all stashed our instruments in the busses and then broke up into groups—and tore up Disneyland. In our uniforms. Hats, too. There’s nothing quite like going down the Splash Mountain log flume with your All-American Band hat plume fluttering on the way down to the water. And it looks a lot different when it’s wet!
The McDonald’s All-American High School Band marching in the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena, California, January 1, 1973. I am in the front rank, third from the left (marching on the double line in the street).
The commemorative patch that I and other McDonald’s All-American High School Band members received after the 1973 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California
January 1, 1973 dawned bright and clear, and I had never seen so many people as I did on that day, lining the parade route, cheering and shouting. It was truly an unforgettable experience, marching in the front rank of the Band. Little did I know what my life and career would bring going forward. I didn’t march in any more parades, but I did take many more trips to places around the world as a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1985–2012), and in the years since my retirement from the BSO. Those kinds of trips started with the McDonald’s All-American Band. And all because I had a trombone in my hand.
When I returned home, the rest of my senior year flew by but the memories of the All-American Band stayed with me. McDonalds had given all of us a Ronald McDonald watch. I wore it every day for a long time.
The Ronald McDonald Watch that was given to me as a member of the 1972–1973 McDonald’s All-American High School Band. It still keeps great time.
My mother was especially proud of the certificate I had received, and it hung on a wall in our family’s home for many years.
And a few months later, I received a letter of thanks from Fred L. Turner, President of McDonalds.
My experience in the Band was memorable beyond words, and each year, when we watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Tournament of Roses Parade, I remember with a smile on my face what it was like to be there nearly 50 years ago.
As I was getting ready to write this article, I learned that a group of alumni of the McDonald’s All-American High School Band formed the “The All-American Alumni Band” in 2019 (unfortunately, McDonald’s would not let them use the corporate name in the name of the group). I had long wondered if there was a way to connect with former members, all of whom I lost touch with over the years. So I will reach out to this new group, as a proud alumnus of the Band. Even though I don’t use Facebook, I would love to have the opportunity to reminisce with other members of the Band, as I’ve done with my good friend, Wycliffe Gordon, who was in the Band in 1984–1985. When Wycliffe and I were most recently together in 2019, playing in an All-Star brass ensemble sponsored by Yamaha Corporation at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, we talked about our time in the McDonald’s All-American High School Band, and what it meant to us. There certainly were many others in the Band who went on to notable careers in music and other professions, and it would be fun to meet with (and maybe perform with) others who had the same life-changing experience as I did on Thanksgiving Day 1972, and New Year’s Day, 1973, thanks to the McDonald’s All-American High School Band. I’ll always be grateful to McDonald’s for giving me an unforgettable experience in the All-American High School Band. And, each year, as I tip my hat to all of the players in bands that march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving and Tournament of Roses parades each year, I am very well aware of how that experience is shaping this generation of young musicians, just as it shaped me.
Two happy alumni of the McDonald’s All-American High School Band: Douglas Yeo (New Jersey, 1972–1973) and Wycliffe Gordon (Georgia, 1984–1985)
The Last Trombone 