_Leader of the U.S.A. Air Force Band_
George Sallade Howard, son of Florence and Hayden Howard, was born
February 24, 1903, in Reamstown, Pennsylvania. His father had been a
soldier in the Spanish-American War and his Grandfather Howard a member
of the Union Cavalry during the Civil War. George, the only son, liked
to listen to his father’s thrilling war stories, and they had fought
over the Spanish-American battles many times.
Although there was much music around the Howard home, young George
Sallade Howard, the only child, didn’t want to be a musician. His
mother was a professional pianist and Grandfather Sallade who lived
with them was a former bandleader and clarinetist. But George would
have no lessons from either of them.
But no one needed to tell Grandfather Sallade that George would some
day be a great clarinet player, because he _knew_ it. He knew it by
the way George listened to music and by the questions he asked about
the clarinet. However no one urged the boy to study music until he was
ready.
That time came when at the age of fifteen he entered high school and
heard the school band. Rushing home the first day, he announced, “I’m
going to be in the band, and I want to play the clarinet. Will you
teach me, Grandfather?”
His music-loving family knew that home instruction was not always
satisfactory, so they sent him to study under a local teacher. He had
more questions than ever to ask his grandfather, but it was many years
later when George realized how much help and encouragement he had
received from him during his school band days.
From high school George went to Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York,
having won a three-year music scholarship there. Although his parents
were well able to meet his college expenses, George earned all his
spending money by playing in the Ithaca Theater Orchestra.
After receiving his degree from Ithaca, George started collecting more
sheepskins. He studied at Ohio Wesleyan until he received his A.B.
degree, then went on to Chicago Conservatory for his degree of Master
of Music. His ambition still unsatisfied, he secured his Master’s
degree at New York University and returned to Chicago Conservatory for
his doctorate of music.
With all this extensive preparation and an armful of degrees, George
Howard at the age of nineteen, began his career in Patrick Conway’s
famous band. Five years later he was the clarinet soloist, a chair he
held for two years.
Then he left the concert field to become an educator in the music
field. He was asked to return to his first college, Ithaca, this time
to teach clarinet and saxophone. From Ithaca he went to the second
college he had attended, Ohio Wesleyan University, as instructor of
wind pedagogy.
As George Howard’s reputation as a leader and teacher spread, he was
in great demand. He accepted the job of Director of Music at the
widely-known national home for young people maintained by the Moose
Lodge in Mooseheart, Illinois. Here the Mooseheart Band under his
direction won the Illinois state championship for four consecutive
years.
From 1936 to 1942 Howard was Director of Music at Pennsylvania State
Teachers College where they proudly tell about his achievements in
their music department during that time. Reluctantly they released him
“on leave” to the army.
His most satisfying experience came when he was sent to do special
service for the United States Army in Greenland, Iceland, Newfoundland,
and Labrador in 1942. He was given the rank of Captain and told that
his job was to build up the morale of the soldiers stationed there. He
traveled alone and found a new use for his talents and training.
To quote his own words, “I had always believed that music exerted a
greater influence on people than any other type of culture, and this
idea was fully verified when I took up my work on this assignment.
There were these lonely men, stationed in isolated places, and with no
entertainment during the long, sunless, winter hours. It was a fertile
field for music’s spell, but it was very difficult at first to arouse
their interest and cooperation.”
However Captain Howard’s wide experience had taught him how to make
contact with many types of people. Genial, earnest and dynamic, he
soon had an audience. He taught them to play on small, basic musical
instruments such as the ukelele, harmonica and tonettes. The tonette
is a midget clarinet that was very popular with U. S. troops the world
over. He helped organize dance orchestras, military bands, and even
“barber shop” quartettes.
“After a while,” continued the Captain, “music melted their hearts.
Often six or seven hundred crowded into the room to sing together
old songs and to learn new ones. Their faces, formerly dull and
unresponsive, showed their pleasure and enjoyment. The talent of
some of them surprised me. One soldier in Greenland made one of the
finest-toned violins I have ever heard from a few strands of wire, some
wood and a little glue.”
After Captain Howard had finished his assignment of setting up musical
programs in the North Atlantic Command, he returned to Washington, D. C.
In March, 1944, he transferred from the Army to the Air Force as
Commanding Officer and Conductor of the U. S. Air Force Band. He took
the band on a tour of Eastern Canada and then overseas to England,
Scotland and France.
When this unit was disbanded at the end of the war, Captain Howard had
proven his outstanding qualities as a musical director. He was given
the rank of major and a new assignment, that of establishing an Air
Force Band on a permanent basis.
The Air Force had found in Major Howard the one person who could
mold the kind of musical organization they wanted. Here was a young
conductor of forty years, a recipient of five degrees in Music, who
had a background of twenty years in the field of musical education.
With his added experiences and achievements in both Army and Air Force
music, Major Howard was a well-known man in the world of music. That
made it easier for him to assemble a group of outstanding musicians for
the new service band.
In 1949 the rank of Lt. Colonel was bestowed upon the Commandant of the
now internationally known U. S. Air Force Band.
Colonel Howard is doing what most people would call a super-human job.
When he was asked about his vacation, he said slowly, “Vacation. That
is something I dream about.”
Colonel Howard rides horseback when he can. He likes to read fiction
or to look at television or listen to his large collection of records
in his bachelor apartment in Washington. Redecorating his apartment
has grown to be a habit with the Colonel. Recently he has had three
side walls painted a vivid dark blue and the fourth side a copper tone.
The ceiling is white. The Colonel said, “This sounds startling, but it
really isn’t as bad as it sounds.”
Colonel Howard’s medals are quite impressive. Among them are the Legion
of Merit and the U. S. Army Commendation Ribbon with five oak leaf
clusters.
He is the author of many magazine articles and of _Ten Minute
Self-Instructor for Pocket Instruments_. Among his music compositions
are: _The Red Feather_ (theme song for Community Chest), _American
Doughboy_, _My Missouri_, _Niece of Uncle Sam_, and _General Spaatz
March_.
Lt. Colonel George S. Howard, “Chief of Bands and Music and Conductor,
U.S.A.F. Band and Orchestra,” has earned the respect and affection of
his musicians and of his public.
_Concert Bands_