Senior Master Sgt. Brian Sands is the principal tubist with the Concert Band, The United States Air Force Band, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C. Originally from Goshen, Indiana, his Air Force career began in 2000.
A graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington, Sands received a Bachelor of Music degree and a Master of Music degree with a Performance Certificate. Before joining the Air Force, Sands was assistant instructor of tuba at Indiana University. In 1999, he won the Indiana University Brass Concerto Competition and was a semi-finalist in the "Tubamania" Solo Competition in Sydney, Australia. He has also performed with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. His teachers include Daniel Perantoni, Harvey Phillips, David Fedderly and Patrick Carmody.
Air Force career highlights include performances in the inaugurations of Presidents George W. Bush in 2001 and 2005, Barack Obama in 2009 and 2013, and Donald Trump in 2017. He performed in the state funerals of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, and participated in the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial dedication. Sands was a featured soloist at the 2008 and 2010 International Euphonium Conferences and four Concert Band tours in 2001, 2007, 2010, and 2017.