US Marine Band With The All-Star Orchestra Wins Emmy

"The President's Own" United States Marine Band in Partnership with the All-Star Orchestra took home an Emmy Award Saturday at the 62nd Annual New York Emmy Awards, which took place at the Marriott Marquis Broadway Ballroom in New York City. "New England Spirit," a program featuring William Schuman's iconic work, New England Triptych, won in the category: Special Event Coverage (Other than News and Sports) with Gerard Schwarz, Guest Conductor, Habib Azar, Video Producer and Director, Marine Band Director Col. Jason K. Fettig as Audio Director, Andrew Mayatskiy as Video Editor and Paul Schwendener as Executive Director. In collaboration with the United States Marine Band, "New England Spirit," is part of the multi-program All-Star Orchestra series featuring top musicians from across the country performing major symphonic masterpieces and works from leading contemporary American composers. Broadcast nationwide on public television since 2013, the acclaimed series is currently in its fourth season.

This is the first Emmy Award for the Marine Band and the seventh Emmy Award for the All-Star Orchestra. All-Star Orchestra Music Director Gerard Schwarz said, "Receiving these awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is a confirmation of the importance of what we are all striving for: to make accessible for free the joy and understanding of great music to the widest possible audience through public television and the world's largest educational website: the Khan Academy. We are so grateful to the United States Marine Band and our co-production team, to our generous sponsors, and to the dedicated public television stations in our vast country for believing in classical music."

THE UNITED STATES MARINE BAND

Established by an Act of Congress in 1798, "The President's Own" United States Marine Band is America's oldest continuously active professional musical organization. Its mission is unique-to provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Whether performing for State Dinners or South Lawn arrivals, events of national significance, or receptions, Marine Band musicians appear at the White House an average of 200 times each year. In addition to its White House mission, "The President's Own" performs an annual season of indoor concerts during the spring and an outdoor summer series on the National Mall. Marine Band musicians also perform in many different types of ceremonies and events throughout the Washington, D.C., area, including full honors funerals at Arlington National Cemetery, Friday Evening Parades at Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., and educational programs in schools throughout the local region. Each fall, the Marine Band travels throughout a portion of the continental United States during its concert tour, a tradition initiated in 1891 by "The March King" John Philip Sousa, who was the band's legendary 17th Director. While the Marine Band is firmly dedicated to preserving the unique musical traditions established over its long history, it is equally committed to serving as a leading ensemble in the development of new repertoire for winds. The organization is equally committed to bringing prominent guest conductors to the podium. The Marine Band's integral role in the national culture and in the government's official life has affirmed the importance of the arts as a bridge between people.

ALL-STAR ORCHESTRA

Maestro Schwarz's All-Star Orchestra is comprised of top players from some of the country's greatest orchestras including Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Houston, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Nashville, New Jersey, New York (the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), Oregon, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Utah, Washington D.C., and more. Together these musicians perform on one stage under the leadership of Maestro Schwarz, who led the Seattle Symphony for 26 years, and now serves as Music Director of the Eastern Music Festival and Distinguished Professor of Music at the Frost School of Music.

The series features classical masterpieces as well as new works from leading contemporary American composers. The series aims to expose classical music to an even broader audience while keeping the listening experience informative and accessible. In addition to performances of classical and contemporary works, the programs also feature musical excerpts, images, interviews and educational commentary by Maestro Schwarz, the musicians, and special guests. The first nineteen programs have been released on DVD by Naxos of America and are available from Amazon and other retailers.

The All-Star Orchestra, in collaboration with the United States Marine Band, has greatly expanded its music education program - now reaching more than 6 million students - in partnership with the world-famous Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org), the free educational website that reaches 30 million students and 750,000 teachers each month in over 200 countries. The collaboration brings, for the first time, classical music to the widely visited website that teaches Math, Science, Economics, Humanities and many other subjects.

America's All-Star Band: The United States Marine Band is a co-production of the All-Star Orchestra (Gerard Schwarz and Paul Schwendener, co-executive producers), the United States Marine Band and Oregon Public Broadcasting (Steve Bass, President & CEO; Dave Davis, Vice President TV Production). American Public Television (APT) distributes All-Star Orchestra to public television stations nationwide. The program "New England Spirit" series was launched in 2018 in partnership with WNET/Thirteen New York.

About OPB
Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the largest cultural and education institution in Oregon and southern Washington, delivering excellence in public broadcasting to 1.5 million people each week through television, radio, and the Internet. Widely recognized as a national leader in the public broadcasting arena, OPB is a major contributor to the program schedule that serves the entire country. OPB is one of the most-used and most-supported public broadcasting services in the country and is generously supported by its members.

About WNET
WNET is multi-media public service non-profit that delivers lifelong learning and meaningful experiences to New York communities. As New York's flagship public media provider and the parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than 5 million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings available on air and online.

About American Public Television
American Public Television (APT) has been a leading distributor of high-quality, top-rated programming to America's public television stations since 1961. For over 10 years, APT has distributed approximately half of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles. Among its 300 new program titles per year are prominent documentaries, news and current affairs programs, dramatic series, how-to programs, children's series and classic movies.

The New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, founded in 1955, is the preeminent membership organization serving media professionals by offering career enhancing events and networking opportunities. NYNATAS fosters creativity and inspires artistic and technical excellence through the renowned Emmy Award, the coveted peer-recognition symbol of distinction in television.

Naxos is the world's leading classical record label, and features all of the All-Star Orchestra's programs from on DVD. "New England Spirit," the double Emmy award-winning program, is available on DVD at: https://tinyurl.com/ma5fdr3

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