His last hurrah

Mike Sciacca

Tom Hernandez has been conducting for a long time, yet he speaks

about his work with such passion that you’d think he was just

starting out in his career.

Hernandez has been leading the Golden West International Symphonic

Band for 37 years. He will hang up his baton at the end of the month.

The 68-year-old traveled with the symphonic band one last time as

it headed to the East Coast over the weekend for a pair of concert

dates.

The two-gig swing ended with a patriotic performance on Tuesday in

Fredericksburg, Va. The big event for the band, however, was a

performance for the General Council of the Assemblies of God in the

nation’s capital.

Among the invited dignitaries at Sunday’s performance, held at the

Convention Center, were President Bush and Attorney General John

Ashcroft.

Ashcroft was in attendance, as were nearly 21,000 missionaries and

pastors from around the world who listened to the band’s renditions

of traditional religious songs.

“It was such an honor to receive this invitation,” Hernandez said.

“This is my last trip as conductor of the band and it will be a

memorable one.

“I definitely will miss this. It’s been an overwhelming career,

but with it came a lot of work. It will be strange not to do this

after this trip.”

Hernandez has been conductor of the symphonic band -- which

consists for 40-plus members who are either current or former Golden

West College students -- since its inception.

The band regularly performs free summer concerts at the Golden

West College Amphitheater. Musical arrangements include renditions of

contemporary, classical, big band and swing, patriotic and Broadway

show tunes.

In 1974, Hernandez took a year’s sabbatical from Golden West to

study with famed trumpet player Maurice Andre at the Conservatory of

Music in Paris.

“That was an incredible experience, and I’d say that it opened a

lot of doors for me,” he said. “It’s hard to believe that was almost

30 years ago.”

With Hernandez at the helm, the symphonic band has, by his

estimation, made 25 trips abroad -- many of them to European cities

and countries: Scotland, London, Paris, Berlin and Lourdes, France,

where the band performed for 300 priests and 25,000 spectators,

Hernandez recalled.

It was the first time, he said, that a band had played at Lourdes.

Although he and the symphonic band have journeyed to several

places in the world, he lists the Vatican as his favorite and most

memorable excursion.

Two years ago the symphonic band played a 90 minute set for Pope

John Paul II and a throng of 250,000. It was the longest such

performance at the Vatican, Hernandez said.

Afterward, Hernandez said he was introduced to the Pope, the band

received a blessing, and then had its picture taken with the pontiff.

“Talk about chills and goose bumps,” Hernandez said. “That,

without a doubt, is the highest honor of my career. What else could

you ask for, after that?”

Hernandez’s brother, Ruben, has been a band member on-and-off for

the past 30 years.

It’s a family affair for Tom Hernandez: his daughter, son-in-law,

three grandchildren, another brother, sister, nephew and two nieces

either play or have played with the band.

His sister, Irene, plays clarinet and is the band’s mistress of

ceremonies.

“Regardless of who is in the band, he treats everyone the same,”

said Ruben Hernandez, a trombonist and current band member. “There’s

no special treatment with him. He’s been a great conductor and we’ll

miss him as he goes into retirement.”

While the trip east was his last with the band, Hernandez, also a

trumpet soloist, has been invited to Granada, Spain, to lead a

1,000-member mixed choir in a series of Christmas concerts beginning

in November.

He has previously conducted three sold-out concerts in Granada.

“I have been part of several memorable and unique performances,

but this last trip with the band, well, I feel so honored,” he said.

“It’s a special way to be going out.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at [email protected].