ASU music alumni conduct premier US Navy bands

Arizona State University music alumni hold two of the highest-level positions within the United States Navy Band.

Cmdr. Robert Joseph “Seph” Coats ('15 MM) was recently appointed as both commanding officer of the U.S. Navy Band and commander of U.S. Navy Music. He became the 15th leader of the U.S. Navy Band, which has been the premier musical organization of America's Navy since 1925.

The change-of-command ceremony in which Coats received his appointment was held at the Navy Band's historic Sail Loft on the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., with Adm. Lisa Franchetti presiding.

"The mentorship I received as a student at ASU was essential to my growth as a conductor,” Coats said, “which in turn prepared me for working with our world-class musicians.”

Coats was the first of the Navy's conductors to enroll in the ASU conducting program in partnership with the U.S. Navy.

“I am extremely proud to be associated with Seph Coats and to have played a contributing role in his exceptional career,” said Gary Hill, ASU emeritus professor and former director of bands. “Seph is an extraordinary musician, a remarkable human being and an outstanding conductor. It is the dream of most every military conductor to someday conduct one of the nation's premiere professional ensembles, and this dream came true for Seph.”

Approximately 10 years ago, representatives from the U. S. Navy conducting program approached Hill with a proposal to designate ASU as one of the few institutions from which aspiring Navy conductors could advance their study of the art and craft of conducting while concurrently earning a Master of Music. Hill said a major hurdle to overcome in the program was the Navy's restrictive 15-month leave time to complete the degree.

As commander of the U.S. Navy Band, Coats will work with men and women band members in Washington, D.C., where the band presents musical performances at the White House, Arlington National Cemetery, throughout the national capital region and across the country. He will conduct the concert band, and at times the ceremonial band, in addition to involvement with the specialty groups within the band.

Coats’ headquarters in Washington, D.C., will allow him to provide support — including handling finances, IT support, policy matters and public affairs — for the 600-plus musicians that represent the nation and Navy in 11 bands around the country and the world.

“Seph is an outstanding musician and conductor and was a terrific graduate teaching assistant in the band program at ASU,” said Wayne Bailey, ASU emeritus professor, former associate director of bands and former director of the school. “The students loved working with him.”

“While these exemplary officers worked with great diligence to improve their conducting skills and strengthen what each of them determined to be small gaps in their musical knowledge, they also served as models for other ASU music students,” Hill said.

Arizona State University has been a part of Coats' family for three generations.

His father graduated from ASU with a Bachelor of Science in aeronautical technology in 1973. And his maternal grandmother worked as the assistant to two sequential directors of ASU Gammage until 1979.

“When I attended ASU, I walked into ASU Gammage every day to go to my office on the third floor and the music rooms,” Coats said. “Every day I walked in, I would think of my grandmother, then walk up the stairs to start my day. It was special, as we were very close.”

Coats’ music career began as a double bassist, but he was exposed to conducting as an undergraduate student. In need of a job after graduation, Coats pursued a career in the U.S. Navy Band. Over time, he realized his job was an opportunity to serve the country through music and connect with people around the world on behalf of the Navy.

Even with a large degree of on-the-job conducting and some formalized training, Coats said that studying with Hill provided him with the instruction he needed to truly become a conductor.

“Studying with Professor Hill was absolutely priceless,” Coats said. “He is a master of conducting and taught in a way that led to instant insight and improvement as well as providing knowledge that would sustain my growth for years to come. Studying with Wayne Bailey and William Reber was equally important, as I learned a great deal on the podium and in the classroom.”

Coats said the advice he would give to students interested in pursuing a career in military bands is to “practice.”

“When you think you're done, practice, then practice more,” Coats said. “Be efficient and be healthy, but put in the time. Musicians in the Navy are of the highest caliber and are better than they have ever been, so the bar is very high. A common thread across all our musicians is exceptional musical skill developed by a lot of hard work.”

Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fritz, director of U.S. Navy Fleet Bands activities, and Bruce Mansfield, former Navy bandmaster lieutenant commander, followed Coats as students at ASU.

“My entire experience was fabulous,” Fritz said. “My interactions with undergraduate students, graduate students, fellow conducting students and the entire faculty have all made me a better musician. The personalized conducting instruction I received from Gary Hill, Jason Caslor, Jeffery Meyer and Brian DeMaris was pivotal in my development as a conductor and musician.”

Fritz said he joined the U.S. Navy Band to continue playing steel drums full time after graduating from college. He then transitioned to the regular fleet bands, where he was afforded some conducting opportunities early in his military career, with additional training at the Naval School of Music prior to ASU.

One of the comments he hears most, he said, is that so many students do not know about careers in military music.

During the past decade, a substantial number of students from ASU have won positions in various U.S. Armed Forces musical ensembles and gone on to have musical careers in the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marine music programs.

As the director of fleet bands activities, Fritz oversees a team that ensures nine fleet bands have the resources they need. His area purchases and maintains all equipment and instruments for the nine fleet bands, provides travel funds for the bands, provides funds to purchase consumable supplies such as reeds, guitar strings and drum sticks, and also auditions and hires future musicians, as well as manages the distribution of the sailors.

Mansfield, the third program participant, is a double alumni of ASU ('19 MM and '21 DMA in conducting). He is currently an associate professor of music and director of bands at Point Loma Nazarene University. During his 22-year career as a Navy musician, Mansfield performed in over 40 countries throughout the world and was recognized with the Colonel Howard Citation of Musical Excellence from the John Philip Sousa Foundation.

The fourth program participant, Lt. Joel Thiesfeldt, director of Navy Band Northwest, will begin his Master of Music at ASU this fall. Thiesfeldt has had an extensive and varied career in the U.S. Navy, transitioning from enlisted trumpet player to commissioned officer. He has held various roles across different Navy bands, including department head at the U.S. Navy Band in Washington, D.C., and assistant director of the U.S. Fleet Forces Band in Norfolk, Virginia, and completed advanced training at the Naval School of Music.

Garrett Stephan ('04 MM in performance, trombone) recently retired as chief musician of the Navy Band Northeast after 20 years, electing to pursue a career as a military musician because it offered him an opportunity to make a living as a musician and serve his country. He said former ASU jazz faculty member Mike Crotty was a huge inspiration.

“ASU provided the diversity and broad talent pool that I was seeking,” Stephan said. “I longed for an environment where I was surrounded by musicians and people that were much better than me, and ASU provided plenty of role models who have had great careers in music.”

Jason Caslor, ASU associate professor and director of bands, said the number of students who participate in the conducting program varies each year, depending upon rotation of who in the Navy band is selected to be a conductor and the school that supports them.

“I think our real benefit from the program is the collaboration between the conductor and our students,” Caslor said. “These conductors are standing in front of our students as one of their colleagues. The students get to talk firsthand with someone about what life as a professional musician in the reserve and fleet bands is like within the military band structure."

To learn more about careers in the U.S. Navy bands, visit navy-music-trifold-brochure-2023.pdf and us-navy-fleet-bands-information-and-faq.pdf.