Photo By Sgt. Seaira Moore | U.S. Marine Corps musicians with the U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC)...... read more read more
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Chief Warrant Officer 4 Andres G. Navarro, a band officer with the U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC) Band, got a call from an old friend asking if he wanted to spend a weekend teaching the top high school musicians from the Fresno-Madera County at Clovis North High School.
That old friend happened to be former Marine, Sgt. Erik Dewhirst, who is currently a local educator and band director for the high school.
Dewhirst and Navarro served together with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band from 2008 to 2009. A few years later and Navarro is leading high school musicians in an honor ensemble put on by the Fresno-Madera County Music Educators Association.
“It’s a great opportunity for the Marine Corps music program to influence the lives of these young musicians,” said Navarro. “It’s been a one of a kind experience. I used to be a high school band director before I joined the Marine Corps. Out of all the performances I’ve done, this is the first time I’ve had the chance to do something like this.”
Navarro also brought two seasoned musicians from the MARFORPAC band to assist and be a part of the high school honors band experience. Enlisted conductor, Staff Sgt. Uiliami O. Fihaki, and trumpet musician, Staff Sgt. Esteban R. Aguirre.
Fihaki is a California local and attended California State University, Sacramento, where he received multiple degrees in classical trombone and music education. In 2012, after graduating from college, he joined the Marine Corps.
“Communicating with the young musicians, going over basic fundamentals and sharing my story of how I started and where I am in my career means a lot, and reminds me of where I started,” said Fihaki.
Aguirre hails from Fresno, California and attended Fresno City College to study music after graduating from high school. After joining the Marine Corps and serving as a trumpet musician for a few years, he returned back to the Central Valley as a canvassing recruiter for Recruiting Sub-Station Fresno, Recruiting Station Sacramento. While on recruiting duty at Recruiting Station Sacramento, he also served as the station commander of Recruiting Sub-Station Merced.
“It’s surreal. It’s full circle. I can’t be more humbled about the experience,” said Aguirre. “Knowing the music educators here and being another voice for music and the Marine Corps is pretty rewarding.”
The Marines spent a total of ten hours with the students to help prepare and execute a repertoire for their performance in front of all their friends, family, educators and musicians from the Fresno-Madera area.
“It’s different when young civilians see Marine Corps Bands perform, I think it’s even more impactful when Marine musicians infiltrate themselves in rehearsals during events like this one,” said Navarro. “We all came from this exact scenario. All of our musicians were born here and I think it’s a way to give back to where we came from.”
| Date Taken: | 01.14.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 01.24.2023 14:22 |
| Story ID: | 436967 |
| Location: | CLOVIS, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 61 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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