By Paul Giorgio

So how does a Greek-American girl from Pleasant Street in Worcester end up as the Principal Timpanist in the premier U.S. Army Band, “Pershing’s Own?” Meet Sergeant First Class Julie Angelis Sodee, a 1989 graduate of Doherty High School and UMass Amherst alumna, who plays the Kettle Drums and symbols.

Sgt. First Class Sodee started playing as a kid in the Leicester Satellites Drum and Bugle Corps and pursued her career thoughout high school. She credits two special teachers in her life for help along the way: Ms. Ginanni at Doherty and Phil Salah, a teacher at Union Music, who gave her free lessons. According to Sordee, “I grew up in a blue collar family and we didn’t have extra money for music lessons. Phil never charged me.”

Sodee received her Masters in Music from Rice University, but had no money to travel around for auditions. “I was a member of the Union,” Sordee said. “I saw an ad in the Union newspaper. The Army flew me to D.C. for an audition.” According to Sodee, band members are assigned to a permanent duty station at Ft. Myer, Virginia and spend their entire careers there. Everyone in the band is a Sergeant.

The marching band has over 200 members, but there’s also a jazz band, a ceremonial band, an all male chorus, a pop/rock group and the Army Strings. The band tours at least two US cities each year.

Sodee has performed with Lou Rawls, Kenny Loggins, and Usher. When she gets back to Washington from this tour, Sgt. Sodee said she will be performing for General Patreus’s Change of Command Ceremony. She has also played at over 1000 funerals at Arlington National Cemetery.

The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own,” which was established by General Pershing at the end of World War I “because he wanted a band to rival the best in Europe,” Sodee explained, traditionally leads the Inaugural Parade. According to Sordee, “The Army is the largest employer of musicians in the country.”

Sgt. Sodee saved the best for last, when she told me that her family used to own Hot Dog Annie’s in Leicester. When she started working there, the Wednesday night special was eight hot dogs for a dollar.

So how have Sgt. Sodee and the other 300 members of the Old Guard enjoyed their stay in Worcester? “They love it,” she said. “I put together a local guide for them; they have been going to Shrewsbury Street and Highland Street. One guy even said he was going to eat at the Boynton every night.”

Photo: Pershing’s Own, courtesy of www.usarmyband.com/about