Sagen Plays Washington
Bandleader conducts U.S. Army Band
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Photo by Melanie Burford Dwayne Sagen, Vanderbilt band director and assistant dean at the Blair School of Music, led the famous Pershing's Band through three compositions and an encore as part of a weekly concert series near the Washington Monument. |
WASHINGTON -- Dwayne Sagen's trip to Washington, D.C., had nothing to do with politics, although President Bush made an unannounced flyby during a rousing performance of the U.S. Army's highest band.
Sagen, Vanderbilt's band director and assistant dean at the Blair School of Music, was invited to serve as guest conductor of the U.S. Army's famed Pershing's Band.
Sagen and Capt. Daniel J. Steiger, associate bandmaster director of the U.S. Army Band, met a few years ago at a competition for which they both served as judges. They hit it off, and based on the strength of Sagen as a conductor, Steiger asked him to guest-conduct the renowned Pershing's Band. The July 24 performance was part of a free weekly concert series that takes place on The Mall throughout the summer months.
"It was an honor to be invited to guest conduct one of the top professional bands in the world," said Sagen, prior to leaving Nashville. "If I was a singer, it would be like singing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, or for orchestra conductors to conduct the New York Philharmonic."
Sagen was responsible for conducting the famous band through three pieces, which he selected and rehearsed only twice before taking the podium at Sylvan Theater. The amphitheater is tucked in a grassy valley in the shadow of the Washington Monument, and is a stones throw from the cherry trees that line the perimeter of the Tidal Basin.
After starting the concert with the national anthem and few upbeat numbers, Steiger relinquished the podium to Sagen following a dirge-like piece that featured a haunting trombone solo.
Sagen emerged from the wings wearing a tuxedo appropriate for a civilian leading military musicians wearing blue pants with a bold yellow stripe, dress shoes and decorated white jackets. Children played near picnic blankets scattered across the lawn as he called the musicians to order to perform "To Walk with Wings." Sagen punched dramatically into the air with the back of his hands, which commenced the thundering drums that launched the contemporary piece.
Appropriate to the theme of the song, planes quietly slipped by overhead en route to nearby Reagan Airport as sunset's glowing hues faded beyond the White House.
Sagen's body gestures mimicked the mood of the piece as it developed. As he relaxed, the music softened. When Sagen snapped the baton at the percussionists, music erupted. The song's ending required a series of staccato gestures from the guest conductor that resulted in a final blast from the military's finest band.
As the applause faded, Sagen began the Gershwin classic, "An American in Paris." The performance featured the brass section impersonating impatient taxis. As nightfall descended, fireflies glittered in the shadows of the nearby trees; a crescent moon slipped into view.
The song's ending was a cymbal player's dream. No more lightly clapping the large brass discs or subtly punctuating the apex of a crescendo here or there; the ending to "An American in Paris" called for emphatic gesturing by the conductor, and full-blown cymbal excitement.
Sagen dedicated his third and final song to his family, many of whom were in the audience.
"Especially my mom and dad," he said. "I just want to say thank you, and this march is for you."
Sagen's mother, Arlene, and his father, Stanley, a World War II veteran, watched from lawn as the band played "Valdres," by Norwegian composer Johannes Hanssen.
During this song -- the most military-sounding piece Sagen conducted -- the helicopter carrying President Bush to the White House from Andrews Air Force Base happened to pass directly overhead no more than 700 feet off the ground.
Sagen returned the conductor's podium to Steiger, who closed the show with familiar songs from pop culture including the theme to Star Wars. Sagen was asked to return to the stage and lead the band through "Stars and Stripes Forever" for the encore.
The musicians joined the audience in standing for the duration of the song. Sagen, who had conducted the three previous songs with a baton and a somewhat serious look on his face, was without a baton but with a broad smile as the piccolos played the familiar refrain.
"The performance was absolutely wonderful," said Stanley Sagen. "It makes me even more proud of him than I already am."
Also in attendance were Dwayne Sagen's wife, Pat, who is director of admissions at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine; and two of their three children, Krista, 29, and Scott, 19. Daughter Stephanie, who is working on a master's degree from Peabody College, was unable to attend.
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