San Marino’s Wendy Bradley was back in action Sunday, playing an iconic flourish in a patriotic tune at Lacy Park.
It’s a thrilling moment in one of the more recognizable melodies in all of American music: Midway through John Philip Sousa’s ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever,” a special arrangement for the piccolo pierces the trumpets and trombones, adding elan to the national march of the United States.
It lasts only about a half a minute, depending on the speed at which it is played, and can define musical careers.
San Marino has its own practitioner of the iconic flourish and, to the enjoyment of the throng at the city’s July 4 celebration, it once again wafted from the bandstand in Lacy Park this past Sunday afternoon. So, how many times has veteran piccolo player Wendy Bradley performed the song?
“Uncountable,” said Bradley, a longtime city resident and member of the San Marino Community Band, before settling on “more than a thousand.”
“Sometimes, with rehearsals, I will play it a half dozen times a day,” she said.
