David Detwiler Retires from "Pershing's Own."	Nov 18 2000

David Detwiler This past February saw the retirement and end to the military career of one of the finest trumpet players in the US military. David Detwiler ended 26 and one-half years of service in one of our nation's premier service bands, the United States Army Band, "Pershing's Own." A native of Altoona, Pa, David was raised in a musical household where his father Ray played trumpet and was a band director. His mother was a local organist and director of the Altoona Hospitals nursing program, which made music a staple of life. During Detwiler's college education at the University of Pittsburgh he began what was to become a career as a lead trumpeter in a big band. Up to this point, Dave's trumpet experience had mostly been as a concert band cornetist and a classically trained trumpet player. However, with the help and guidance of his older brother Terry, who was at that time the solo cornetist with the United States Marine Band, "The President's Own," David began playing lead trumpet with Nathan Davis and the University of Pittsburgh Jazz Ensemble. After completing his degree at Pittsburgh, he played in Pittsburgh as a professional and traveled with jazz artist Nathan Davis for a year, until he auditioned and won the job as trumpeter with the United States Army Blues. In 1973 David joined "Pershing's Own" in Washington D.C. where his career flourished for more then 26 years. As a lead player and jazz soloist with the Army Blues, Dave recorded and traveled throughout the country as well as played White House and other official concerts in and around Washington, D.C. He was a cornerstone of the section, with a consistently accurate and powerful upper register. With his classical background David caught the ears of the commanding officers of "Pershing's Own" early on, and not only did full time duty with the Blues, but for many of his 26 years was also the featured soloist with the Army Concert Band on every major United States Army Band concert. David Detwiler Dave's work with the Army did not go unrecognized by the civilian community either. During his military career David forged relationships with the National Symphony where he played on many pop concerts and was a featured soloist. Director Leonard Slatkin liked Dave's interpretation of Ellington's "Harlem" so much that he had David travel to New York with him as his soloist with the New York Philharmonic. David soloed and played fourth trumpet in the Philharmonic for seven concerts with admirable success. During his career, David has been known as a "first call" lead and section trumpet player for local bands where he has performed in numerous shows at the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, Nissan Pavilion, on the annually-televised "Christmas in Washington," and the Kennedy Center Awards. Local bandleader Miles Stiebel says, "if you go to a live show in D.C. or watch a television special from D.C., look up in the trumpet section, and you most likely will see David Detwiler". Dave attributes most of his professional success to strong family backing throughout his life and the United States Army Band. "I have met so many important people, and had the opportunity to play my horn and make a great living doing it," he says. The musical environment in Washington D.C. is highly stimulating due to the number of professional musicians brought there by positions in the various military groups. David Detwiler is, in retirement, still one of the busiest musicians in Washington D.C. He is now trumpet instructor at Georgetown University and also directs the University Jazz Ensemble. He also teaches music theory and Jazz Band at Centreville High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, and maintains an active playing career as a lead trumpet for shows and recordings in Washington. His advice for young musicians? "Be serious, but have fun. Practice hard, but take some time to smell the roses. An artist is never satisfied with his product." Sources: David Detwiler, Rob McConnell, photos: Army Public Affairs

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