A former Chattanoogan is among about 200 musicians and singers performing in a musical Valentine for U.S. troops.
Seventeen-year-old Allie Buice was one of several violinists in a concert called "For The Love Of America. A Musical love Letter to the Troops."
Hosted by former Tonight Show sidekick Ed McMahon and ABC News Analyst Cokie Roberts, the performance was taped Feb. 6 in the Pentagon auditorium.
It began airing this weekend on The Pentagon Channel and Armed Forces Radio and Television which are viewable on military bases around the world, and on the web at www.pentagonchannel.mil
Most of the musicians she shared the stage with are members of the
Veterans Administration National Medical Chorale and Symphony Orchestra. They are physicians, nurses and medical support personnel who serve America's veterans through medical practices, teaching and research for the Veterans Administration. About a dozen young musicians from the D.C. area were invited to join the performance.
Allie moved to the D.C. area last fall with her family to join her dad,
former Chattanooga Police Department Spokesman Ed Buice, who headed north to D.C. nearly a year ago to become a public affairs specialist with NCIS-Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Before relocating Allie was a member of the Chattanooga Youth Symphony and Hixson High School Orchestra. In Virginia Allie has been selected as first chair violinist of her high school orchestra, performs with the Rappahannock Youth Symphony and with church groups around the Fredericksburg area, recently participated in the All-County Orchestra and has been invited to take part in an honors orchestra at the University of West Virginia.
"The concert at the Pentagon was a terrific experience. I was very honored to play for the troops and I really enjoyed meeting the other musicians. My music stand partner was 79 years old, but we had a lot of fun together; she had a great sense of humor. The soloists were amazing. Everyone worked hard to make it a fabulous concert and I'm very grateful to my instructor William Wassum for inviting me to be part of it all."
The concert was a collection of classical, popular and patriotic music
interspersed with readings by military brass, members of Congress, the Washington media and veterans advocate Adrian Cronauer of "Good Morning Vietnam" fame.
The group also plays at the U.S. Capitol a couple of times each year and Allie hopes to be invited to be part of a performance there in the future.