Performer Details
Performer Bio Synopsis
The United States Coast Guard Band is the premier band representing the United States Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. The 55-member ensemble has performed at some of the most prestigious venues in the nation, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. The Band also has a rich history of performing internationally: it is especially honored to have been the first American military band to perform in the former Soviet Union, with concerts in Leningrad and the surrounding area in 1989. In 2008, the Coast Guard Band became the first premier American military band to perform a concert tour of Japan. In addition, the US Coast Guard Band toured Taiwan in July 2011.
Based at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, the Coast Guard Band frequently appears in Washington, DC, at presidential and cabinet level functions on formal and informal occasions. Historic events include National Christmas Tree lighting ceremonies, the American Bicentennial Celebration with President Gerald Ford, World War II Fiftieth Anniversary events in England, and Inaugural celebrations for every President since Herbert Hoover.
A number of notable vocal artists have appeared with the Coast Guard Band, including Placido Domingo, Marilyn Horne, Elizabeth Futral, Andy Williams, Roberta Flack, Lee Greenwood, Lorrie Morgan, Shirley Jones, Lonestar, and the Boys Choir of Harlem. Film, literary and television personalities have included Gregory Peck, Lucie Arnaz, Willard Scott, Walter Cronkite, John Amos, Alex Haley, and Richard Thomas. Coast Guard Band concerts have also featured instrumental artists such as Bill Watrous, Dale Clevenger, Slide Hampton, Cecil Bridgewater, Chris Vadala, David Shifrin, and Philip Smith. In 2008, under the direction of Maestro Leonard Slatkin, the Band performed a superb concert of music by Copland, Bach, and Hindemith, among others.
The United States Coast Guard Band was organized in March 1925 with the assistance of Lt. Charles Benter, leader of the United States Navy Band; Dr. Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Philharmonic; and “American March King” John Philip Sousa, former director of the United States Marine Band. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed congressional legislation resulting in the Coast Guard Band becoming the permanent, official musical representative of the nation’s oldest continuous seagoing service. This event also established the Coast Guard Band as one of our nation’s premier service bands.
The United States Coast Guard Band
Conductor's Bio
Lieutenant Commander Adam Williamson serves as the seventh director of the United States Coast Guard Band, carrying out the Band’s missions of promoting public goodwill through unwavering dedication to the highest levels of musical performance, preserving and honoring the heritage, history, and traditions of the nation and service, and supporting official Coast Guard functions. LCDR Williamson is responsible for the overall presentation of all Coast Guard Band activities, for maintaining the world-class stature of the 55-member ensemble, and for supporting hundreds of engagements annually.
Mr. Williamson originally joined the Coast Guard Band as tenor saxophonist in 2003, and was a featured soloist on multiple occasions, including the Band’s 2007 Southeast Tour and at notable venues such as Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra and Boston’s Hatch Shell. As a member of the Coast Guard Band Saxophone Quartet, he performed concerts and conducted masterclasses extensively throughout the US and abroad, including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, numerous university schools of music, and throughout Taiwan and Japan. Mr. Williamson served in the saxophone section for 10 years before being named director, receiving a commission to Lieutenant Commander in October 2013.
As the leader of the sole official musical representative of the Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard, LCDR Williamson is the musical authority of the service. He frequently provides musical guidance for official functions and creates musical programs to advance the Coast Guard’s public affairs missions. In his time as director, Williamson has led the Coast Guard Band in performances for President Trump, President Obama, members of congress, DHS secretaries, and Coast Guard leadership. The Coast Guard Band performed for the 2015 National Tree Lighting in Washington D.C., sharing the stage with celebrities Reese Witherspoon, Trombone Shorty, and Andra Day, and marched in the 2017 Presidential Inaugural Parade
LCDR Williamson is committed to supporting music education, and during his tenure has expanded the Coast Guard Band’s outreach programs, now reaching over 14,000 students in Connecticut and Washington D.C. He created the “American Composers Series” recordings to capture the musical language, sound, and aesthetic of living American composers, so far recording the works of Grammy-nominated composer Kenneth Fuchs, and up-and-comer Jess Langston Turner. His endeavor to engage a worldwide audience has led to extensive use of online and social media platforms, enabling the Coast Guard Band’s concerts and outreach activities to be broadcast to millions around the globe.
LCDR Williamson earned musical degrees from the State University of New York, College at Potsdam, studying saxophone with Tim McAllister. He also began graduate studies at Indiana University with saxophonist Otis Murphy. He attended the Hartt School at the University of Hartford, where he pursued studies in instrumental conducting with Glen Adsit and Edward Cumming. He currently resides in Connecticut with his wife and son. His wife, former Coast Guard Band Vocalist Lisa Williamson, maintains an active career as an in-demand lyric soprano.
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