I had a pep band gig today that was not the kind of thing that we usually do. Former governor of Maryland and mayor of Baltimore, William Donald Schaefer died this past week, and we were asked to perform at Baltimore's City Hall while his body was transferred from Annapolis to Baltimore to lay in state prior to the burial.
He had requested in his will that we play upbeat music for the occasion, and we did, and when his body arrived, we played the Baltimore Fight Song, slowly, starting with one trumpet, then adding the rest of the trumpets, and finally the rest of the pep band. It was really quite moving.
