JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
About a year ago, a website advertisement for a chair in the Air Force Band of the West caught the eye of a young woman who was on her way to earning a doctor of musical arts degree.
A few months later, following a successful audition, the position was offered to her and basic military training awaited her at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
A bassoon player since she was in sixth grade, Airman 1st Class Laura McIntyre is now playing the woodwind instrument as a member of the 60-piece Band of the West. She also plays in the band’s Spectrum Winds ensemble, a quintet with a repertoire of compositions rooted in genres ranging from chamber music, jazz and pop to marches and other patriotic favorites.
“It’s absolutely amazing to be able to use my talents as a musician to serve the country and help make our community a better place,” McIntyre said. “Music is a really powerful tool for connecting with people, whether it’s to inspire them to greater patriotism, or to honor those fighting for our country, and I feel really lucky to be a part of that mission.”
McIntyre’s music and military influences were few in her early years: Her mother played the piano for fun and her grandmother had served in the Navy’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, better known as the WAVES, during World War II.
The Virginia native’s musical journey began when she decided to join her middle school band when she was 11. She admitted she sounded bad on all the instruments she tried, but she was drawn to the bassoon, a low-sounding double-reed woodwind instrument characterized by a long U-shaped conical tube connected to the mouthpiece by a thin metal tube.
“I thought it would be cool to play the bassoon,” she said. “I really loved it right away.”
McIntyre persevered, inspired by a teacher who started giving her private lessons a few years later.
“She was an awesome teacher; she was very encouraging,” she said. “She was a big part of why I stayed with it.”
McIntyre’s playing continued to flourish, leading her to membership in the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras – a group that drew young musicians from Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. – when she was 16. She also played with her high school band.
Following high school graduation, McIntyre continued her music studies, majoring in bassoon performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music, a conservatory with 400 students.
“When I was a high school senior, I wanted to study chemistry or music, but I decided on music and had dreams of playing in a symphony orchestra,” she said.
About halfway through her undergraduate studies, McIntyre sought a different direction for herself.
“I wanted to give back to others by teaching or through public service,” she said. “I felt it was selfish practicing alone just to make yourself better.”
Joining other musicians, McIntyre took part in community outreach concerts at psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes and juvenile detention centers, a practice she began in Cleveland and continued when she pursued her master’s degree in bassoon performance at Arizona State University.
McIntyre’s next stop was the University of Texas at Austin, where she began work on her doctor of musical arts degree and performed with ensembles such as the Mid-Texas Symphony.
When she was weighing whether she should audition for the Band of the West bassoon chair, her husband, Hudson Lanier, whom she met at Arizona State, encouraged her, telling her structure suits her.
Joining the Air Force musical organization also allowed her to devote even more time to public service through a commitment to her country.
“It’s going really well,” said McIntyre, who is looking forward to performing with the Band of the West at the Fiesta in Blue Concert April 25 in Trinity University’s Laurie Auditorium. “I love the job and the people I work with.”
Staff Sgt. Kathleen Keese, Band of the West Concert Band and Spectrum Winds operations representative, said McIntyre’s nine years of rigorous professional and academic training helped her make a seamless transition from civilian life to military musician.
“Airman McIntyre was able to walk in to her first rehearsal with Spectrum Winds and blend right in – musically and personally,” she said. “Playing in a quintet is a very collaborative process, and she contributes her creativity and musical leadership in a way that helps all five members of the quintet achieve a higher standard of musicality.”