2 weeks Ago By VALERIE WELLS [email protected]
His father, Mike, has played in the Decatur Municipal Band for decades. His brother, Sean, plays drums for rising country artist Priscilla Block. His other brother, Matthew, is a freelance trombonist in New York City, where he has performed with the Rockettes, on Broadway and with Michael Buble, to name a few.
And David is a member of the United States Air Force band, serving as the drummer for Airmen of Note, the jazz band, a gig he's had for almost 20 years. The Airmen of Note will perform 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 29, at Kirkland Fine Arts Center. The performance is free and open to the public, though tickets are required and are available at www.music.
af.mil . Other area performances are set for Sunday, April 27,.
at the Effingham Performance Center and April 28 at Champaign Central High School. “I was always attracted to the idea of playing drums,” McDonald said. “I think because already the other members of my family played brass instruments.
I considered trumpet briefly, but I didn't think I had any natural ability. I was always more interested in drums, and I played a little bit of piano before that.” This will be McDonald's first time performing in his hometown with the group.
The last time the band played in the area, 10 years ago, the closest they got to Decatur was a performance in Bloomington. “He's made Decatur pretty darn proud,” said Jim Culbertson, director of the Muni Band and retired Decatur Public Schools band teacher. Culbertson led the MacArthur High School Jazz Band, an award-winning and nationally recognized program.
Culbertson, working as a team with Steve Schepper, who was a middle school band teacher before his retirement, trained young musicians to play at the highest level they could reach, and many of the students who learned under them, like McDonald and his brothers, have gone on to musical careers. “If you're a musician and you get to that high level of performance and playing every day with great musicians, it's a thrill,” Culbertson said. “It's a dream for all musicians to say, 'I've made it to the top.
' He's achieved that and it's just great.” Getting into a U.S.
Military band is highly competitive, McDonald said. Normally, someone joins a branch of the service, takes aptitude tests to determine a career path and expresses interest in a certain field. But to join the bands, first you have to pass a rigorous audition process and interview, and if you are chosen, then you join the military and go through basic training.
He is a 2005 graduate of DePaul University and had begun graduate studies at the New England Conservatory of Music. When he was notified of his acceptance into the Air Force band in October of that year, he finished his semester and began basic training in February. “Our primary duty is performing and the people in the band, our unit, is performing 'flights,' as they call (performances),” McDonald said.
The entire organization — which includes the jazz and concert bands — is about 185 people, he said, and when they're not performing or rehearsing, members have “collateral duty” jobs that include marketing, operations who schedules and manages performances, recording and video, the music librarians, sound engineers, and other support functions that are shared among the members of the band, who also do their own set-up and tear-down for performances. “Our workload is a combination of concerts and protocol missions, performing for a function, like a party or ceremonial event or some kind of supporting event at an embassy, state department receptions, private events or ceremonial functions, and public concerts,” McDonald said. McDonald's father, Mike, is proud of all of his sons' careers, and both parents attend shows when they can.
“One of my stories is, in 2017 they were all playing at different venues,” Mike McDonald said. “Matthew at Radio City Music Hall, Sean at the Grand Ole Opry and David playing at the White House. I'm happy they're paying the bills,” he added with a chuckle.
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