Alumnus Kevin Flanagan, '20, has earned a tuba spot in the prestigious West Point Band, the Army's oldest band.
Article By: Denise Ray
A University of North Georgia (UNG) alumnus is bringing his talent to a premier military band.
Kevin Flanagan, '20, is playing tuba in the West Point Band, an opportunity that developed after years of practice and discipline. The West Point Band, the Army's oldest band, was founded at the United States Military Academy in 1817. The Cumming, Georgia, native played euphonium (a small tuba) in high school and took private lessons from Dr. Adam Frey, associate professor of music and director of instrumental studies at UNG. He went on to earn a music degree from UNG.
“One of the most amazing aspects of working with Kevin for seven years was seeing his incredible progress,” Frey said. “Kevin’s hard work, dedication and fortitude served him well to achieve his goals and win a premier music performance position at West Point.”
Frey noted that Flanagan’s education in Forsyth County and at UNG propelled him to success and plans are to have him return to perform at UNG.
"The thing with euphonium is that there aren’t a lot of jobs and those that do exist, people hold on to them for a lifetime," Flanagan said. "I started dabbling in tuba and saw a world of opportunities, more chances for success with the big tuba."
Big tubas weigh 25-30 pounds and Flanagan practiced stretches and exercises, "just to get used to it," he said.
Getting a job like this has been a dream of mine since I was in middle school. These premier bands are the best in the world. I didn't set out with this in mind, but I think day by day I worked on my craft and saw what doors opened up for me and arrived here.
Staff Sgt. Kevin Flanagan, '20
West Point Band Tubist
The audition process for the spot was rigorous. Each candidate received 20 pages full of snippets of the most difficult tuba parts in the wind ensemble repertoire.
Roughly 60 individuals were in the initial pool of applicants which dwindled down to four possible tubists when Flanagan was chosen.
“With each audition you take, you learn from what went well and what could have gone better. Having learned which aspects of my playing don’t hold up as well under pressure, I was able to address those deficiencies in my practice,” he said. “The audition occurred during the right moment of my trajectory of improvement.”
West Point, New York, is special to Flanagan because “it reminds me a lot of Dahlonega, and it’s close to New York City, which is awesome.”
Flanagan reported to boot camp in January and completed training in March. While settling into a new his new residence, he also earned a Master of Music in instrumental performance degree with a tuba focus from the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, where he studied with Aaron Tindall.
Musicians are brought in at a higher rank to make the jobs competitive with civilian orchestras. Duties in this role include performing for local, national and international audiences in support of the West Point community, the U.S. Military Academy, and the U.S. Army.
"It's a professional band that is stationed at West Point, it's not comprised of cadets," Flanagan said. "It's part of the military. All members are active-duty soldiers and have completed basic training, have to conform to standards, and receive active-duty benefits.
Band duties include football season parades, ceremonial duties, funerals, holiday concerts, summer concert series, and musical things that people like me have grown to appreciate, but this is a full-time job, Flanagan said.
"Getting a job like this has been a dream of mine since I was in middle school," Flanagan said. "These premier bands are the best in the world. I didn't set out with this in mind, but I think day by day I worked on my craft and saw what doors opened up for me and arrived here."
