A Message from the Commanding Officer - The United States Navy ...

Roberts was chosen as one of four international concerto soloists featured at the World Saxophone
Congresses in Montreal, Canada (2000), and Bangkok, Thailand (2009), along with the North American
Saxophone Alliance Conference in Iowa City, Iowa (2006). He also performed at recent saxophone congresses
in Ljubljana, Slovenia (2006), and Columbia, South Carolina (2008). In the past year he has been
invited to perform at the International Clarinet/Saxophone Festival in Nanning, China, and the Australian
National Band Championship in Hobart, Tasmania.
Roberts completed his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the Catholic University of America in
2006, where he also served as director of instrumental ensembles for three years. He has had numerous
pieces composed especially for him, including John Heins’ “Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind
Ensemble,” and Wilfred Holcombe’s “Blues Concerto for Alto Saxophone.” He was also an influential
advisor to John Mackey in the development of his “Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Wind Ensemble,”
one of the leading pieces for the instrument today.
His military decorations include a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and two Navy and
Marine Corps Achievement medals, all given for his unique solo interpretations, his innovative work in
the band’s Tour Operations department, and his coordination of the Navy Band’s International Saxophone
Symposium.
A strong proponent of music education, Roberts has published over thirty columns for Saxophone
Journal. He developed a master class CD on the tenor saxophone music of Walter Hartley that appears in
the January 2011 issue of that magazine. Roberts also performs with the East Coast Saxophone Quartet
and maintains an active teaching studio at both George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., and Shenandoah
Conservatory in Winchester, Va.
Senior Chief Musician philip M. Burlin, uSn
unit leader - Commodores jazz ensemble
Phil Burlin, a native of Camp Springs, Md., joined the Navy Band
in 1991 and is the unit leader of the Commodores. He attended St.
Mary’s College of Maryland and later North Texas State University
in Denton, Texas from 1979-1982. At Western Maryland College in 1985,
he directed the saxophone and clarinet quartets and taught jazz improvisation
and classical saxophone. He has appeared with the St. Mary’s College
of Maryland Jazz Ensemble, the University of Maryland Jazz Ensemble,
the Peabody Jazz Underground, the Les Elgart Orchestra, the Gary Thomas
Quintet (opening for Miles Davis at the 1986 Eubie Blake Jazz Festival),
and as a featured soloist with Electra recording artist, Danny Gatton (1987-
1989). In 1988, he received a “Jazz Performance Grant” from the National
Endowment for the Arts.
Burlin has been a featured soloist since joining the Navy Band. He has
performed with jazz artists such as Charles McPherson, Bob Mintzer, Arturo
Sandoval, Marvin Stamm, Stanley Turrentine, Ernie Watts, and Eugene
“Snooky” Young at such venues as the Elkhart (Ind.) and Montreux (Detroit) jazz festivals, and conferences
of the International Association for Jazz Education in Miami, New York, and Toronto. In addition, he was
the producer of the Commodores recordings “Here and Now” and “Sessions on M Street” and has written
numerous compositions and arrangements for the band.
His awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (two awards), Navy and Marine
Corps Achievement Medal, and others.