Treg and Elisse Ancelet have been appointed conductors of the Courthouse Chamber Orchestra, a community orchestra based on the Middle Peninsula. The newlywed husband-and-wife team are Newport News residents; they said they will be meeting with orchestra members as soon as the coronavirus pandemic allows and orchestra members are ready.
A lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, Treg is the commander in charge of the TRADOC band at Fort Eustis. He said he is one of only 24 commissioned army band officers nationwide.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in music education, Treg taught at the high school level in his native Louisiana before earning a master’s degree in conducting at George Mason University. It was while attending GMU that he became hooked on the idea of playing in a military band. He said he saw various bands performing at the White House and the Capitol Building and said, “Wait a minute, how do you get to do that?”
“I had a two-day audition, was accepted, and off to basic training I went,” he said.
A trumpet player, Treg has now been in the Army for 20 years, beginning his career at the U.S. Army School of Music in Virginia Beach. His first band was at Fort Monroe, then he moved on to positions at West Point, Atlanta, Fort Bragg and Kuwait before joining the Army’s premiere band in Washington, D.C. He said he spent four years in charge of the ceremonial band, which always plays “Hail to the Chief” during presidential appearances. After D.C., Treg was stationed in Korea for two years before returning to Virginia Beach, and then to Fort Eustis.
Elisse is a Professor of Music, Music Business, and Music History at University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music in Stockton, California. She said she conducted the university orchestra before moving to Virginia, where she continues to teach online.
A California native, Elisse received her BA in Music at Santa Clara University, her Master’s in Music History and Literature at California State University, East Bay, and her Ph.D. in Musicology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She’s an oboist and jazz bassist.
Both of the conductors have been musical all of their lives. Elisse said that, according to her mom, she could sing the “Star-Spangled Banner” at 18 months. Her parents were very supportive, and she was able to travel a lot with marching band. When she graduated from high school, Elisse received a scholarship in music to attend college.
Treg said that, although his family was musical and he began playing in the band at a young age, “Everyone knew I wanted to be a Louisiana lawyer and politician.” But he began having so much fun in band that he decided to become a high school band director instead. While he went to graduate school with the idea of becoming a college band teacher, he said those military bands in Washington put him on a completely different trajectory.
The couple said they’ve only met some of the orchestra members online, and they’re eager to meet them and everyone else face-to-face. They said they’ll play a wide variety of music, guided by the desire of the orchestra members. They expect to play Broadway and pop tunes as well as traditional orchestra music.
“We’ll do a mix of a lot that orchestra members love to play and that audiences like a lot,” said Elisse. “We’ll have something for everybody.”