Air Force Band Welcomes Honorary Commander Published July 12, 2016 By Master Sgt. Eric Sullivan Washington, D.C. -- Please join us in welcoming Washington Performing Art's Jenny Bilfield to the position of Honorary Commander (CC) of The United States Air Force Band! She is the second person to hold this title in the Band's 75 year history. The Honorary CC is a community representative and spokesperson for the Air Force Band, making appearances at Band events and concerts as available, helping the public in the greater DC area become more aware of the Band's existence and impact in the community, and working in conjunction with the Band to ensure we are being good community partners. They also attend annual Honorary CC events at Joint Base Andrews with other community leaders/Honorary CCs to gain a greater understanding of the Air Force's role in our communities and how we can better collaborate and coordinate with those leaders and local organizations to improve our communities. Bilfield is the current President and CEO of Washington Performing Arts (WPA), a D.C. based organization at the forefront of arts presentation and education. WPA has received Mayor's Arts Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education (2015) and Excellence in Service to the Arts (2012) and was honored by President Barack Obama with a 2012 National Medal of Arts, becoming only the fourth D.C.-based arts group and the first arts presenter of its kind to be so honored. Bilfield has been a lifelong music lover, something her mother encouraged and developed. "One of my earliest memories was of the LP player, stacked with records, playing as I drifted to sleep each night. I was about 3 years old - listening to Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring,' Bernstein conducting/narrating 'Peter and the Wolf,' Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass and Louis Armstrong singing 'Hello, Dolly.' My mother had very broad taste and loved music, theater and visual art. She learned to play the piano but, by her own admission, wasn't especially good. When I was 3 and began playing 'Fur Elise' with her mistakes, by ear, she knew it was time to get me into some sort of music studies!" From there her interest and experience grew, encompassing all manner of music. "...we went to concert halls, church basements...wherever the music was interesting. I definitely knew the music of George Crumb before I'd heard all of Mahler's music. But this early exposure - the natural sense of discovery that accompanied it - definitely acclimated my ears to contemporary musical vocabulary, harmony, textures." The USAF Band was already on Bilfield's radar well before she joined WPA. "I became aware of the Band's high artistic standards and work when I was President of the music publisher Boosey & Hawkes. As the publisher of Copland et al, one of our roles was to give permission for new arrangements. The arrangements that were submitted...were top notch. And then, when I heard them performed, it was clear the performance standards matched the quality of the arrangements." Bilfield brings a wealth of experience in community outreach and arts exposure, as well as a specialization in the strategic management, promotion, and presentation of contemporary music and cutting edge artists. This has already been showcased with the WPA/USAF Band collaboration on John Luther Adams' "SILA"--and Bilfield says we can expect more of the same, and then some. "Since coming to DC I've been involved with the United States Air Force Band through its generous work with Washington Performing Arts' Embassy Adoption Program. The Singing Sergeants guide kids in our EAP 5th grade classrooms to learn and perform the national anthems of the countries they're paired with, bringing real music-making and cultural context together for children in DC Public Schools. In addition, the Band was a natural go-to partner for a big commission we undertook for John Luther Adams' 'SILA' - a work that marshals the resources of a full symphony orchestra, spans more than an hour, and is intended to be performed with natural/urban sounds as a backdrop (performed outside). The USAF Band brought a sense of true partnership - dynamic thinking that made complex production requirements seamless, musical commitment to deliver a great performance for the composer and the audience, and unfettered excitement that is rare within the music world. We are now working on a masterwork of the 20th century - Olivier Messiaen's "Des Canyons aux Etoiles", celebrating the centenary of the National Park Service, and featuring the east coast premiere of new visual photography and film of parks in the Southwest. David Robertson will conduct, which will be an exciting complement to the project! The USAF Band has been one of our very best partners and I am grateful to Colonel Lang, Senior Master Sgt. Dennis Hoffmann, and Chief Master Sgt. Jebodiah Eaton for being so willing to explore how to make interesting projects happen, and to engage audiences in a new and different way." "When I joined Washington Performing Arts three years ago, I could never have imagined receiving such poignant recognition of my involvement with the USAFB. I love working with smart, committed, creative partners - people who place equal emphasis upon serving their country, serving their community, serving music and their field. I am deeply honored!" The commander of The USAF Band, Colonel Larry Lang, had this to say about the appointment: "Jenny is already a fantastic partner to the Band and we are continuing to collaborate on exciting artistic projects together that have and will continue to enhance the community. She is the perfect Honorary CC and we are so honored to have her accept this appointment." To find out more about Washington Performing Arts and the work that they do, please visit their website at http://www.washingtonperformingarts.org/, and please visit http://www.usafband.af.mil/ to keep up with all the latest news and information from your United States Air Force Band.