Our Newest Chief Musicians

We’re pleased to announce that eight members of the Navy Band have been selected for promotion to chief musician. Congratulations to Chief (select) Musicians Christina Bayes, Gunnar Bruning, Kenneth Carr, Eric Lopez, Peter Revell, Tia Turner, Adam Tyler and Cynthia Wolverton.

The results were released yesterday.  In addition, four members from the Naval Academy Band were selected for advancement, along with 10 musicians from the Navy Music Program.  Overall, the Navy advanced 3,532 sailors to chief petty officer.

Chief (select) Musician Christina Bayes, from Martinsburg, W.Va., joined the Navy Band in 2000. She earned a Bachelor of Music magna cum laude from West Virginia University in 1995 where she studied flute with Joyce Catalfano and orchestral repertoire with Lawrence Christianson. She also earned a Master of Music in flute performance from Illinois State University in 1998 where she studied with Kimberly McCoul-Risinger. During her college years, Bayes actively performed in master classes, including those of Paula Robison, Leone Buyse, Donald Peck, Bernard Goldberg, and Jeanne Baxtresser. In 1995 and 1996, she was a selected performer for Walfrid Kujala’s orchestral master classes at Northwestern University, and in 1998, she was a Young Artist for the Flute Society of Washington and won the prestigious performance fellowship at the University of Maryland, where she began doctoral studies.

Bayes is the principal flutist of the Harp/Flute Duo, and has been a featured soloist with both the Concert and Ceremonial Bands. As an active recitalist in the metropolitan area, she has performed eight solo recitals featuring modern music and has performed at the National Flute Association’s National Convention. She is an avid freelance performer and a contributing author, featured in the international flute publication, Flute Focus. Bayes is currently a candidate for a Doctor of Musical Arts in flute performance at the University of Maryland where she studies with Dr. William Montgomery.

Chief (select) Musician Gunnar Bruning, a native of Marathon, Wis., joined the Navy Band in 2001. He earned a Bachelor of Music in trumpet performance from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1999 and a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music in 2001. His teachers include Bob Kase and Alan Siebert. Bruning has appeared with national and international ensembles including the Dayton Philharmonic, Annapolis Symphony, Fairfax Symphony, Rome Festival Orchestra, Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra and the Lakeshore Wind Ensemble.

Bruning has performed "Taps" for numerous high-profile funerals including the interment of President Gerald Ford in Grand Rapids, Mich., in January 2007. He has also served as a faculty member at the Washington Conservatory of Music in Bethesda, Md. In his spare time he enjoys sailing, hiking, and spending time with family.

Chief (select) Musician Kenny Carr, raised in Santa Cruz, Calif., joined the Navy Band in 1998. He began playing violin at age nine, but at age eleven moved to the guitar. By his early teens, Carr was studying jazz theory with vibraphonist Rob Lautz as well as renowned trumpeter Ray Brown. In 1981, he performed with his group The Jazz Animals as an opening act for Carmen McCrea and Freddie Hubbard at the Mount Tamaulipas Jazz Festival. He attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass., and was immediately placed in the top ensembles and recording groups at the school. During his final year in 1986, he auditioned for Ray Charles and toured worldwide with Ray Charles as his guitarist for more than 10 years. Carr is one of the original members of the Cruisers.

Chief (select) Musician Eric Lopez, a native of Silvis, Ill., joined the Navy Band in July 2003, following a three-year enlistment as a bugler with the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. He earned a Bachelor of Music from Western Illinois University in 1995 and a Master of Music from The Eastman School of Music in 1997. He is also a recipient of a Performer’s Certificate from The Eastman School of Music. His teachers include Adolf Herseth, Mario Guarnari, Barbara Butler, Charlie Geyer, Jon Dugle and Bruce Briney.

Lopez has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Cedar Rapids Symphony, the Harrisburg Symphony, the Midland/Odessa Symphony, the San Angelo Symphony, the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, the Alexandria Symphony, and the Russ Morgan Orchestra. He has also toured with the Gershwin musical revue “American Rhapsody.” In May, he was a featured soloist at the International Trumpet Guild Convention in Harrisburg, Penn.

Lopez currently serves as a leading petty officer in the Ceremonial Band and is also an operations assistant. He enjoys spending his free time with family and friends.

Chief (select) Musician Peter Revell, a native of Boston, Mass., joined the Navy band in 1995. Originally selected as an instrumentalist with the Navy Band Sea Chanters chorus, he joined the Commodores jazz ensemble in 2006. He received his bachelor's degree from Shepherd College, while studying with Duane Botterbusch, Steve Novosel, Gerard Kunkel and K. Farrell Co. Previously, he had been a music teacher in Frederick, Md.

Revell has appeared with The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet, has performed with such notable musicians as Lennie Cuje, Bob Butta, Chris Bacas, Roy Hargrove, and Loston Harris, and has also made appearances at Blues Alley and the One Step Down. In addition, he has performed at the highly-respected Montreaux Jazz Festivals in Detroit and Montreal. A versatile musician, Revell has performed with all of the Navy Band’s performing ensembles. He has also performed for the International Saxophone Symposium and the Midwest Clinic, and has performed on 15 national concert tours.

In addition to his performance duties, Revell is a national tour manager, responsible for booking and managing national concert tours. He also manages the Navy Band's uniform locker, outfitting the entire command with all of its performance attire, ensuring the most professional appearance at both public concerts and ceremonial functions.

Chief (select) Musician Tia Turner, a native of Lafayette, La., joined the Navy Band in 2002. She earned a Bachelor of Music from Louisiana State University in 1994 and a Master of Music from Michigan State University in 1996. Her primary teachers include Steve Cohen and Elsa Ludewig Verdehr. She was the winner of the Brevard Music Center Festival Concerto Competition in 1995 and ,in 1996, she was appointed second clarinetist with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. In 1997, Turner was selected for a position with the United States Army Field Band in Fort Meade, Md.

Turner is a featured artist on a Stereophile production of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with soloist Hyperion Knight and has performed and recorded with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra in Annapolis, Md. She currently serves as a Ceremonial Band leading petty officer and command operations assistant. In her spare time she enjoys cooking and spending time with her family.

Chief (select) Musician Adam Tyler, baritone, originally from Phoenix, Ariz., joined the Navy Band in February 2000. He earned a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from Northern Arizona University in 1996 with an emphasis in opera and musical theater. His vocal instructors include Judith Cloud and Judy May-Selheim. He performed with numerous professional theater companies prior to joining the Navy including The Grand Canyon Shakespeare Festival (Flagstaff, Ariz.), Moonlight Theater Company (San Diego, Calif.), Canyon Moon Theater Company (Sedona, Ariz.) and Phoenix Theater Company (Phoenix, Ariz.)

Tyler is actively involved in choral music in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. He is a vocalist with “Brethren,” an all-male contemporary Christian ensemble, and “The Potomac River Chorale,” both comprised of professional singers from the Washington area. In addition to his duties as a vocalist, Tyler has worked as a church musician for nine years. He was a cantor at St. Rita’s Catholic Church in Arlington, Va., for three years and is currently the staff piano accompanist at Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C.

Chief (select) Musician Cynthia Wolverton, a native of Norcross, Ga., joined the Navy Band in 2000. She earned a Bachelor of Arts cum laude from the University of South Carolina, a Master of Music from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a Doctor of Musical Arts magna cum laude from the University of North Texas. While at UNT, Wolverton was named the 1999 College of Music Outstanding Student in Woodwinds and the 2000 Outstanding Graduate Student in Instrumental Studies. Her teachers include R. Douglas Graham, Bruce Dinkins, Wilbur Moreland, and James Gillespie.

Wolverton spent three summers at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, winning the concerto competition in 1993. She also won the 1993 Atlanta Music Club Young Artists’ Concerto Competition and was a semi-finalist in the 1996 International Clarinet Association Young Artists Competition. Since 2003, Wolverton has been a member of the McLean Orchestra. She is also the author of “Clarinetists in Uniform,” a regular column in The Clarinet magazine which spotlights the activities and achievements of clarinetists serving in our nation’s military bands.

Congratulations to these musicians on their important career milestone, and for their continued dedicated service to the United States Navy Band and the United States Navy.