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USAF clarinet quartet’s pieces diverse

Conexión San Angelo newsroom


The United States Air Force Band of the West Mission Winds, a clarinet quartet performed on Friday, February 10, 2023 at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, 1 Love Street.

SAN ANGELO – The United States Air Force Band of the West Mission Winds, a clarinet quartet included in their 6 p.m. Friday, February 10, 2023 performance a little bit of everything, ranging from the traditional, March “Colonel Bogey” to the French Suite for four clarinets written in 1939 by Yvonne Desportes a French composer, writer, and music educator. The “Colonel Bogey” tune became very popular during World War II.

According to scholar, Laura Ann Hamer in her dissertation Musicinennes: Women Musicians in France during the Interwar Years, 1919-1939, Desportes composed 500 works: including three symphonies, eight operas, and a requiem. She also won the Prix de Rome three times and published 31 music textbooks.

SSgt. Michele Von Haugg a clarinetist for 10 years with the Winds quartet, and the spokesperson for the group, informed the attendees all the pieces to be played on the program could be downloaded via a QR code. Haugg stated in an earlier interview that the four members together for only one year, spend an average of three hours a day, five days a week rehearsing for tours such as this one.

The final piece performed was "Flight of the Bumblebee," an orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, composed in 1899–1900. This interlude is considered very popular among musicians making it one of the most performed works around the globe.

The USFA Band of the West Mission Winds from San Antonio, Texas honors our veterans, inspires the public, and connects with communities through their performances at a variety of events such as military and civic ceremonies, public outreach and school concerts.






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