instruction in conducting from Simon . He also played in the conservatory ’ s brass choir under Ernest Glover , then principal trombone of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra . During this time he received the runner-up award in a brass choir composition contest at the school , also receiving the C . Hugo Grimm prize in counterpoint , while his colleague , Verne Reynolds , won first prize . Reynolds went on to be a famous horn player and professor at the Eastman School of Music ; there was a reunion of these two men when Post visited that famed school for a brass band workshop in the late 1960s . Other well-known student colleagues of Post at that time were Ward Swingle , later of Swingle Singers fame , and cornet stand partner Eugene Blee , later the highly respected principal trumpet of the Cincinnati Symphony .
While studying at the conservatory , Post led several SA bands in the region , including the Covington ( KY ) Corps Band , the Cincinnati Citadel Corps Band and the Southwest Ohio Divisional Band . Most importantly at this time he met his future bride , Catherine ( Katie ) Garritty , a talented brass musician in her own right . Shortly after their marriage and his graduation , they moved to Pittsburgh where Vernon
took on the position of what is now called the Divisional Music Director , as well as bandmaster of the Pittsburgh Temple Band . They spent two productive years in Western Pennsylvania and then entered the SA ’ s School for Officers Training . Upon being commissioned , they first served again in Western PA till Vernon ’ s assignment in the Eastern Territory ’ s music department in New York City .
There began a wonderful collaboration between Richard Holz and Vernon Post that would bear great fruit for SA music . For exaample , at Star Lake Musicamp Post became right hand man to Holz ( camp director ), Vernon serving as program director 1954 — 1963 . He implemented a series of improvements particularly in the choral and
theory curricula , while also getting great results with bands he led there . These efforts paralleled other departmental programs during the regular year , like the annual bandmaster and songster leader courses ( with Erik Leidzén and Richard Holz ), biennial Music Congresses and Music Leaders ’ Councils , and the on-going expansion of the department publications in which Post ’ s arranging played a vital role , including in the American Band Journal .
In the fall of 1963 , Post became Territorial Music Secretary and Staff Bandmaster when Holz transferred to Hartford , CT . For the next 9 years he indeed took the NYSB from strength to strength and expanded the reach and impact of Star Lake Musicamp , while maintaining the multifaceted programs of the music department . At Star Lake , for example , in the post-Leidzén era he brought in a succession of international guests , including Gunnar Borg , Eric Ball ( on three occasions ), Philip Catelinet , Thomas Rive , Bernard Adams , Bruce Broughton , and Ray Steadman-Allen . At the same time he continued to improve the standard of playing and singing of the NYSB , while introducing an array of new , attractive compositions with the NYSB . Representative of these would be Steadman-Allen ’ s Fantasia for Piano and Band : Christ Is the Answer and an array of new works by Emil Soderstom , whom Post had hired as the new editor of the American Band Journal . Post also featured a series of his own fine arrangements for the Male Chorus , like such contrasting items as Introit , It Took a Miracle and Joshua Fit the Battle . For that matter , I highlight mention his fine band arrangements and compositions : Marches like Camp Allegheny , Soldiers of the Cross ;
THE SALVATION ARMY USA EAST
SUMMER 2023 NYSB BULLETIN 7