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Home > Fact Sheets > History of The United States Air Force Band: 1964-1985
HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE BAND: 1964-1985
Posted 4/13/2007
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Portrait of Arnald D. Gabriel, USAF Band Commander & Conductor, 1964-1985, and Conductor Emeritus.
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Arnald D. Gabriel, Commander & Conductor, 1964-1985
Conductor Emeritus
In July 1964, the Air Force transferred Arnald D. Gabriel from his command at the Air Force Academy Band to the position of commander and conductor of The United States Air Force Band. Gabriel inherited a well established program, but one that had been racked with budget cuts and changes in personnel. Some units had been transferred to other commands; others had been decimated by decisions to separate personnel and cut back the number of men in the existing units. Despite these problems, Gabriel, during his more than 20 years as commander, was able to rejuvenate the Band and carry it to new musical heights.
After a few months under Gabriel's command, the Band resumed traveling by instituting semi-annual concert tours to different parts of the United States. These tours were the first under a new program for tour financing--the government covered all expenses for the tours, allotting each member of the Band an equal amount of money for each day's expenses.
Perhaps Gabriel's greatest contribution to the popularity of the Band was his creation of the Guest Artist Series. This program began to evolve in 1966 as a way to introduce prominent local artist personalities to the Band program by featuring them in concerts. Amateur talent from the Washington, D.C., area was also invited to perform with the Band. The program grew in popularity and was expanded to include noted musicians and actors (Doc Severinsen, William Conrad, Peter Graves, Marilyn McCoo and Melba Moore), guest conductors (Aaron Copland, Karel Husa, Leroy Anderson, Morton Gould and Henry Mancini), and performing groups (The Statler Brothers, The Lettermen, The Gatlin Brothers, Manhattan Transfer and the Dave Brubeck Quartet) from throughout the country. Prominent celebrities, both musicians and non-musicians, were invited to sing, play, read or recite with the Band. While only a few names have been mentioned, total guest artists to date number over 300!
At the end of the Howard era, the Band had ceased participating in international tours. But by 1968, it was felt that this highly beneficial program should be resumed. The first tour destination was Latin America. In 1969, the second tour was scheduled for Europe, visiting Scotland, Germany, Spain, England, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
During the early '70s in the United States, there was a strong movement in our country to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. The Air Force chose to be proactive and open as many career fields as possible to women. In 1973, Karen Riale Erler became the first woman to become an instrumentalist in any of America's premier military bands. Several women had been a part of the organization previously, primarily as vocalists with the Airmen of Note, but Erler was the first woman hired as an instrumentalist. The Air Force Band is proud to have pioneered among the armed services the inclusion of women in the music career field.
In 1972, a Washington, D.C., radio announcer named Bill Cerri began playing holiday music over the airways during a summer heat wave. Cerri took the listeners' minds off the hot weather and at the same time created a new tradition called "Christmas in August." The Air Force Band and Singing Sergeants, with Colonel Gabriel conducting, joined in the spirit in 1975 by inaugurating the first annual "Christmas in August" concert with Bill Cerri as host.
In the 70s, the influence of rock 'n roll music became so important to the American musical scene that the Air Force wanted to include a group specializing in this genre. To that end, Gabriel created a group called Mach One in 1975.
Throughout the Band's history, individual players of the Band had been performing chamber music in their off-duty hours throughout the Washington, D.C. area. But there had been no attempt to program or market the group as a part of the Band. So in 1970, the Chamber Players Series was created as a means for the Band to bring quality music to Washington audiences. In 1985, The Ceremonial Band, which represented the Air Force at ceremonies and patriotic programs throughout the National Capital Region, became an all-brass and percussion ensemble and was renamed The Ceremonial Brass.
During his tenure, Gabriel's many guest-conducting appearances and domestic band tours showed prominent composers that the concert band idiom and The Air Force Band in particular were wonderful ways to express their music. A commissioning program for new works written for, and dedicated to, the Band helped to reinforce the concert band as a legitimate performing ensemble, and provided a means by which The Air Force Band could promote a new direction for band music.
In February of 1985, Colonel Gabriel retired from the Air Force. During his career, he helped the Band reach new vistas of quality and popularity, and made it one of the most sought-after military bands in the world.
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