Chris Franke of Springfield recently became a staff sergeant in the U.S. Marines without ever going to boot camp. In February, the 23-year-old became a violinist in the U.S. Marine Band, one of the premier musical outfits in the country, and his boot camp was four years at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Franke’s training also includes strings instruction at Keene Mill Elementary and playing in the orchestras at Lake Braddock Secondary and West Springfield High schools.
One reason Franke grew up in the area is that both of his parents played in the Marine Band, known at The President’s Own because it serves the White House and the commandant of the Marine Corps. His mother, Susan Franke, also grew up in the area — playing in W.T. Woodson High School’s orchestra — because her father was in the Marine Band.
When he started taking violin lessons at the age of 5, neither of Chris Franke’s parents expected him to follow in their footsteps, they said. "Both of us felt really lucky to have been able to have a job in the music field," said Susan Franke.
"They told me at all times, ‘This is just for fun. You don’t have to go into music,'" Chris Franke said, recalling that his parents had almost tried to discourage him from majoring in music because it was a risky proposition. But he went ahead anyway, and when a violin slot opened up in the band shortly after he earned his undergraduate degree, he jumped at the opportunity.
TWENTY-SIX OTHER violinists competed for the opening, and the audition went on for three rounds, Chris Franke said. "Mine went from 27 [competitors] to six, to three and then they took me." This was in January.
Chris Franke had done a semester’s work toward his master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University, he said, "but after I got the job, it wouldn’t have been worth doing another year and a half to get the master’s …"
" … when this is the job you wanted anyway," finished Phil Franke, Chris’ father.
Chris Franke was given about a month to enlist in the Marines and joined the band in February. His first performance was at the White House Easter Egg Roll, where he and three other band members played quartet pieces. "It was just quite an experience to be playing at the White House," he said, noting that, although President George W. Bush was not in attendance, he did see the first lady. "I was finally able to put a picture to all these stories," he said, acknowledging that tales his parents and grandfather had told him about playing at White House events and other high-profile functions had influenced his decision to pursue a career with the band.
Since joining the band, his most interesting assignment was playing for the queen of England’s visit to the White House, he said. It was exciting, he said, to see her and the president "and to know that this was only one of many, and there were more to come." He added that he has not gotten over the thrill of performing "for the president of the United States, the most powerful man in the world, and knowing that he’s walking right by us and appreciating our music."
Susan Franke noted that her first performance had been for the queen, "and this is the only other time she’s been back." As a violist, she too was in the band’s chamber orchestra and performed at the same sorts of events her son now plays.
Phil Franke, meanwhile, played the euphonium — sort of a half-sized tuba — in the traditional band, which he said is generally reserved for outdoor events, as horns and brass are a bit noisy for the indoors.
Phil and Susan Franke met in the band after they joined in 1981, and both made it their career. Phil Franke noted that it is typical for those who are accepted into the band to stick with it. "They may not get incredibly rich from it, but they’ll be musically fulfilled," he said. One reason for this fulfillment is that band members often get to create their own arrangements, he said. He recalled one of his bandmates arranging a Metallica song for a tuba quartet. He and three others played the piece last fall at James Madison University and at the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference in Denver. "People loved it," he said. "It was something real unusual."
ANOTHER REASON that playing in the band is rewarding is the caliber of its musicians, said Phil Franke. For example, among those who leave, he said, "any time someone from the band auditions for another spot, it’s usually for a principal position, and they’re almost always among the top three candidates."
"Our musicians tend to come from the top music schools in the country," said Staff Sgt. Amanda Simmons, a Marine Band spokesperson. She noted that band members are "extremely well-qualified," with about 60 percent of them holding master’s degrees in music.
Chris Franke said band members can also achieve a certain level of fame. At his music school, he said, his classmates were amazed to find out that he was the son of Phil Franke. The band has only four euphonium slots, "and they were just incredulous that he would have one of those," he said. "I always had a pride that my dad was one of the best, because people made it seem like he was one of the best."