Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

MSG James Miller

flute / Section Leader

flute

MSG James Miller

Pontiac, MI

Group: The U.S. Army Ceremonial Band

Joined the Band: 2013

Alum: University of South Carolina-Columbia / University of NC at Greensboro

MSG James J. Miller is originally from Pontiac, Michigan. He joined Pershing’s Own in December 2013. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina - Columbia; a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he was a graduate assistant and a Professional Artist Certificate from the North Carolina School of the Arts. Miller has been a prizewinner in numerous flute competitions including: MTNA Young Artist, SC Flute Society. He was the winner of the Concerto Competition at both the University of South Carolina and University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He has performed with the Western Piedmont Symphony, Fayetteville Symphony, Winston Salem Symphony, and Nova Chamber Orchestra. He has also been a featured soloist at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC and London International Poetry Festival in London, England. Miller joined the Army in July 2011. Before joining Pershing’s own he served in the 8th United States Army Band in Seoul, Korea and The United States Training and Doctrine Command band at Ft. Eustis, VA. MSG Miller is in active soloist, chamber musician and clinician. When not making music he enjoys volunteering, running, cooking, and traveling.

SFC Adiza Jibril

alto / Section Leader

alto

SFC Adiza Jibril

Staten Island, NY

Group: The U.S. Army Chorus

Joined the Band: 2013

Alum: Ithaca College

SFC Adiza Jibril hails from Staten Island, New York, and is a graduate of the Ithaca College School of Music Vocal Performance program. During her time at IC, she studied with notable teachers such as Deborah Lifton and Dawn Pierce. An active member of IC’s Opera Workshop, she took part in a number of main stage and studio operatic productions: ‘La Natura’ (Cavalli’s La Calisto); ‘Sem’ (Britten’s Noah’s Flood); Mozart’s The Magic Flute (ensemble); Suor Angelica (‘Sister,’ and understudy for ‘Suor Dolcina,’ and the ‘First and Second Lay Sisters’); and ‘Little Tree’ (Britten’s Paul Bunyan). In 2012, she played the role of ‘Slave Woman’ in the world premiere of the opera Wolf by the Ears by Dana Wilson. In May 2013, shortly after graduating from Ithaca College, Jibril became a member of The United States Army Band where she currently sings with The U.S. Army Voices. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, spending time with friends, and practicing and teaching yoga.

MSG Xavier Perez

saxophone / Asst. Group Leader/Section Leader

saxophone

MSG Xavier Perez

Hialeah, FL

Group: The U.S. Army Blues

Joined the Band: 2013

Alum: University of Miami / SUNY-Purchase

Saxophonist MSG Xavier Perez of Hialeah, Florida holds a Bachelor of Music in Studio Music/Jazz Performance from the University of Miami and a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from SUNY-Purchase. He was named "2001 Top Collegiate Jazz Soloist in the U.S. and Canada" by Down Beat Magazine's Student Music Awards Division. He was twice invited to compete in the international World Jazz Saxophone Competition, both times taking second place. In 2003, he was selected for jazz vocalist Betty Carter's artist-instructor mentoring jazz residency program, Jazz Ahead, at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and was selected in 2007 and 2008 for Carnegie Hall's Emerging Artists Program. As a saxophonist in bands such as Maynard Ferguson's Big Bop Nouveau, the United Nations Orchestra, and the Jon Faddis Orchestra, Perez has played in notable venues such as New York's Blue Note Jazz Club, Washington, DC's Blues Alley, and New York's Carnegie Hall with artists such as Ignacio Berroa, Randy Brecker, Diane Schure, Hector Martignon, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Roy Hargrove, and Slide Hampton. Perez joined The United States Military Academy Band's Jazz Knights in 2009, and in 2013 became a member of The U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" as tenor saxophonist with the U.S. Army Blues.

MSG Benjamin Wensel

cello / Section Leader

cello

MSG Benjamin Wensel

Rochester, NY

Group: The U.S. Army Strings

Joined the Band: 2003

Alum: Cleveland Institute of Music / Eastman School of Music

A native of Western New York, MSG Benjamin Wensel earned degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Eastman School of Music, where he served as assistant to renowned pedagogue Alan Harris. Equally important to his musical education were performances in seminars and master classes for members of the Cleveland, Guaneri, Juilliard, Miami and Ying quartets; chamber music studies with Peter Salaff and members of the Audubon and Cavani Quartets; and solo master classes with David Soyer, Clemens Michael Hagen, Steven Isserlis and Michel Strauss. Wensel has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Syracuse Symphony, and has been a member of The U.S. Army Strings, Orchestra and String Quartet since 2003. Additionally, Wensel appears with many of the fine local ensembles in the National Capital Region. Dedicated to the creation and promotion of new music, Wensel performed the world premieres of more than 20 works written by established and emerging American composers as a founding member of the Tarab Cello Ensemble and participated in the ensemble’s residencies at Princeton University, Stetson University, and the University of South Florida. He currently coaches for the 9th Street Chamber Music, Quartet Intensive program as well as maintaining a private studio in Fairfax, Virginia. Grateful to be an active member of the innovative arts community of the Capital region, Wensel performs regularly as the cellist of the Mellifera Quartet. He can be heard on recordings produced by Bridge, Delos, Harmonia Mundi, RM Records, and Summit.

MSG Rogelio Garza

library / section leader

library

MSG Rogelio Garza

Corpus Christi, TX

Group: Support Staff

Joined the Band: 2010

Alum: Texas A&M University Kingsville / Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University

Originally from South Texas, MSG Garza earned his undergraduate degrees in biology as well as music, studying clarinet and bassoon with Dr. Nancy King Sanders at Texas A&M University Kingsville. He then moved to Maryland to study with Edward Palanker of the Baltimore Symphony at The Peabody Conservatory where he earned a graduate degree in clarinet performance.Garza joined the Army in 2006 when he began service with the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command Band at Fort Monroe, Virginia, where he served as principal clarinetist, Eb clarinetist, and performed in the woodwind quintet for several years before winning an audition for The United States Army Band in 2009. He has been a member of The U.S. Army Ceremonial Band since 2010 and is an active chamber and theater musician in the Washington, D.C. area.

SFC Janice Kim

oboe / Section Leader

oboe

SFC Janice Kim

Seoul, South Korea,

Group: The U.S. Army Concert Band

Joined the Band: 2011

Alum: George Mason University / Manhattan School of Music

Originally from Seoul, South Korea, SFC Janice Kim, is an oboist with The U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" since 2011. Kim has a background in performance and arts management. In NYC, she worked administratively with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and performed as an oboist with numerous ensembles along the East Coast, including Ensemble 212, Ensemble du Monde, Symphony in C Orchestra, the National Wind Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, and under conductors such as Leonard Slatkin. As a chamber musician, she was invited to play at the Institute for World Politics in Washington, D.C., with the Madison Chamber Players, and was an original member of The Alcova Ensemble. She was an assistant to flutist, Linda Chesis during the 2010 Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival, where she also performed on the Bach Cantata Concert Series. In 2010, she was a selected Young Artist at Pepperdine's Fall for Music Weekend, and has participated in master classes with Joseph Robinson, Peter Smith, Richard Killmer, Carolyn Hove, Jeffery Rathbun, Jonathan Blumenfeld, and John Ferrillo. She was honored to attend the very last Wild Acres Oboe Camp with John Mack, in 2005. She holds a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Liang Wang (principal oboist, New York Philharmonic), and a Bachelor of Music degree from George Mason University, where she was a student of Dr. Lorrie Berkshire Brown, and the 2006 Concerto Competition winner.

SFC Christopher Watkins

trumpet

SFC Christopher Watkins

Marietta, GA

Group: The U.S. Army Ceremonial Band

Joined the Band: 2013

Alum: Louisiana State University / Manhattan School of Music

SFC Christopher Watkins, trumpeter for The U.S. Army Ceremonial Band, joined "Pershing's Own" in April of 2013. A native of Marietta, Georgia, he began playing trumpet at the age of 11. Watkins received a Bachelor of Music degree from Louisiana State University and completed his Master of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music. His teachers include Mark Gould, David Bilger, Brian McWhorter, Brian Shaw, and his father, Alfred Watkins. Watkins was awarded fellowships with the International Lyric Academy and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival as part of the resident quintet. He has performed with the Tuscia Opera Festival, Ochestra Sinfonica del Progetto, One World Symphony, Cobb Wind Symphony, and Baton Rouge Symphony. When not making music, Watkins enjoys watching sporting events and rooting for his LSU Tigers football team.

SFC Kyle Tomlin

tenor

SFC Kyle Tomlin

Stroudsburg, PA

Group: The U.S. Army Chorus

Joined the Band: 2017

Alum: The Pennsylvania State University / University of Michigan

Possessing a voice hailed by the Washington Post as “impressively commanding,” SFC Kyle Tomlin is a tenor making a name for himself both on the opera stage and as a concert soloist. He has made appearances with companies across the country including Virginia Opera, Toledo Opera, St. Petersburg Opera, Charlottesville Opera, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, as well as with the Fairfax Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, National Cathedral Choral Society, Handel Choir of Baltimore, and the Washington Bach Consort. Some of his notable roles include Rodolfo (La bohème), Tybalt (Roméo et Juliette), Nemorino (L'elisir d'amore), Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), and the title role in Albert Herring.While he regularly performs the standard repertoire, Tomlin is no stranger to new music. As a Gate City Bank Young Artist with Fargo-Moorhead Opera, he covered roles in the world premieres of Buried Alive and Embedded, two operas commissioned by the American Lyric Theatre for the Poe Project. He also originated the role of John in the premiere of Rockland, an opera commissioned by the Pine Mountain Music Festival, where he was a Resident Opera Artist for three years. Tomlin's teachers include Stanley Cornett and George Shirley, both former members of Pershing's Own.

SSG Patrick Lin

violin

SSG Patrick Lin

Fargo, ND

Group: The U.S. Army Strings

Joined the Band: 2019

Alum: Florida State University / Cleveland Institute of Music

SSG Patrick Lin was born in Buffalo, NY, and grew up in Fargo, ND, where he began studying violin at the age of 7 with Mary Weisser and Jane Linde Capistran. He continued his studies at The Florida State University (Bachelor of Music 2015) with Dr. Benjamin Sung and the Cleveland Institute of Music (Master of Music 2018) with William Preucil. Patrick joined The U.S. Army Strings in February of 2019. Previously, he lived in Honolulu, HI, where he was a member of the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra and performed with Hawai'i Opera Theatre and Ballet Hawai'i. Patrick has also performed with the Baltimore Symphony, Charleston Symphony, and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestras and has attended festivals around the country, including the Britt Music and Arts Festival (OR), Lexington Bach Festival (MI), National Repertory Orchestra (CO), and Spoleto Festival USA (SC).

SSG Rachel Minto

public affairs

SSG Rachel Minto

Pittsburgh, PA

Group: Support Staff

Joined the Band: 2020

Alum: Youngstown State University / Arizona State University

SSG Rachel Minto, a Pittsburgh, PA native, joined The U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" in 2020. Prior to her service with "Pershing's Own," Staff Sgt. Minto was a Fife Instrumentalist in The U.S. Army "Old Guard" Fife and Drum Corps, one of the Army's premiere musical ensembles. With the Fife and Drum Corps, she performed across the nation, from elementary school gyms to the Pentagon. Minto earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Youngstown State University and a Master of Music in flute performance from Arizona State University.

SSG Jenna Taylor

flute

SSG Jenna Taylor

Jupiter, FL

Group: The U.S. Army Concert Band

Joined the Band: 2022

Alum: The Florida State University / The University of Texas at Austin

Staff Sergeant Jenna Taylor joined The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” in September 2022. A native of Jupiter, Florida, SSG Taylor began her musical instruction at age 6 and graduated from the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in 2011. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree, summa cum laude, from The Florida State University and a Master of Music degree from The University of Texas at Austin. Her teachers include Marianne Gedigian, Eva Amsler, Sara Stout, and Karen Fuller. Prior to “Pershing’s Own,” Taylor performed with the U.S. Navy Fleet Forces Band in Norfolk, Virginia, from 2018-2022, sharing stages with military ensembles from around the world, including France, Jordan, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Among her many assignments at Fleet Forces Band, she performed as a member of the Woodwind Quintet, Flute & Guitar Duo, and was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Navy Good Conduct Medal, and the Meritorious Unit Commendation Medal. Taylor has appeared with the Central Texas Philharmonic and New World Symphony, and has spent summers at the Brevard Music Festival and National Music Festival.

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