SSgt Helena Giammarco

Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Helena Giammarco plays horn with the United States Air Force (USAF) Heritage of America Air Force Band at Langley AFB, Virginia. Sergeant Giammarco started her military career in the United States Navy in 2004, where she played horn and soloed in concert with the Pacific Fleet Navy Band at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. She participated in the 2007 International Military Band Tattoo in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that celebrated the 50^th anniversary of Malaysia’s Independence.

 

Sergeant Giammarco studied with Radovan Vlatkovic at the Salzburg Music Festival and with Hector McDonald, the Vienna Symphony’s Principal Horn, at the Graz Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst. She studied natural horn with Richard Seraphinoff and Andrew Clark. She has performed with the Honolulu Symphony, the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Grazer Symphoniker and the Alexandria Symphony. Sergeant Giammarco was a finalist and place winner in the Dennis Brain Solo Horn Competition and the recipient of the Mary Ella Jacob Prize while a student in London. She was a member of the University of Southern California Scholarship Brass Quintet that won the Saunderson Award at the 57th Annual Coleman Chamber Music Competition, and she appeared as a soloist with the Oahu Civic Orchestra. Sergeant Giammarco has published articles in the Horn Call journal and was the horn professor at McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois from 2014-2016.

 

1999 Bachelor of Music, Horn Performance, Royal Academy of Music, London, UK                                                                              

2003 Master of Music, Horn Performance, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA                                                                

2013 Doctorate of Musical Arts, Catholic University of America, Washington DC                                                      

2014 Prior Service, Sister Service Course, Lackland Air Force Base, TX                                                                   

2014 Airman Leadership School, Scott AFB, IL                                                                                                        

2017 Noncommissioned Officer Academy, Non-Residence                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

1. October 2005 - October 2008, Pacific Fleet Navy Band, Pearl Harbor Naval Station, HI                                                                  

2. December 2013 - May 2019, USAF Band of Mid-America, Scott AFB, IL                                                       

3. June 2020 - Present, USAF Heritage of America Air Force Band, Langley AFB, VA

 

Air Force Commendation Medal                                                                                                                                     

Air Force Achievement Medal                                                                                                                                    

Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
Navy Good Conduct Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal                                                                                                                         

Air Force Longevity Service Ribbon                                                                                                                                            

USAF NCO PME Graduate Ribbon                                                                                                                                 

AF Training Ribbon

 

Petty Officer Third Class February 11, 2005

Senior Airman December 19, 2013

Staff Sergeant October 1, 2015

 

(Current as of November 2020)