Brentwood High School's 'Green Machine' marching band revs up for DC's Memorial Day Parade
Band Director Joseph Sitler directs the band at Brentwood High School in Brentwood. The Green Machine will represent New York State at the National Memorial Parade in Washington, D.C. Monday. Credit: Thomas Hengge
Joseph Sitler said he will spend his 55th birthday on Tuesday with “113 awesome people” — his marching band students — sightseeing in Washington, D.C., then venture back home to Brentwood High School after performing for millions of Americans live on national television.
Sitler and about half the students that make up the Brentwood Green Machine marching band depart for the nation’s capital Sunday to march Monday morning down Constitution Avenue in the National Memorial Day Parade. They will perform a patriotic medley that splices the official anthems for each branch of the U.S. armed forces in between portions of “America the Beautiful.”
“It’s the 250th anniversary of our country, and to be selected, it’s an honor and a privilege to be going down there and performing, honoring all the men and women who lost their lives, making this country what it is,” Sitler, the director of the Green Machine for the past 18 years, said.
The annual parade, hosted by the Arlington, Virginia-based nonprofit American Veterans Center, invites marching bands from across the nation to perform, but not all of them get as big a platform as the Brentwood teens.
“We are fortunate enough to be one of two that will perform live on national TV, and we are part of the opening ceremony of the entire parade,” Sitler said.
The ceremony begins at 9 a.m., while the parade steps off at 10 a.m. It will be livestreamed on YouTube as well as broadcast over ABC, CBS, CW, Fox and NBC stations.
For Sitler, the affair not only coincides with his birthday, but also his retirement.
“It’s the biggest on top of a sundae that one could ever imagine,” he said. “Personally, I’m just so proud of the kids that they get this opportunity.”
Before Friday’s three-hour rehearsal — the only practice before Monday’s performance — Sitler’s students reflected on what the opportunity means.
“It’s honestly a great honor to be celebrating our American pride and being able to play amazing music with our friends, basically our family,” Joshua Ruiz, a 17-year-old senior who plays alto saxophone, told Newsday.
The Green Machine has a long history of competing across the country. The band's current lineup took home first place in their division at the New York State Field Band Conference, while previous generations marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and performed at an Orange Bowl college football game, Sitler said. The band even performed during the inaugural parade for President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
During Friday's rehearsal, Sitler sported a custom Brentwood jersey bearing his name above the number “86,” the year he first joined the Green Machine as a sophomore baritone player.
“If it wasn’t for the Brentwood Green Machine, I wouldn’t be here,” the director said. “I wouldn’t be a music teacher today.”
On Friday, Sitler led students through physical and musical warmups — stretches, followed by scales — before arranging them in a semi-circle to practice their tune.
Natalie Platero, a 17-year-old senior, is one of two drum majors, or student conductors, who will lead the marching band on Monday. Both her position and her instructor inspired her to pursue a career as a conductor, just as Sitler felt inspired to lead budding musicians.
“Being a drum major made me realize I love teaching people music,” Platero told Newsday before Friday’s rehearsal. “Mr. Sitler kind of inspired me to do it because I love seeing him conduct. It’s so powerful. ... You can see the passion in his eyes when he conducts.”
