If Don Schofield had never been cut from his eighth grade basketball team, he might not have found his way to the podium of one of the most prestigious musical institutions in the world.
“When I got cut from the team, I realized I wanted to do something where I could find success,” Schofield says. “Band was where I felt at home. I went all in and found the confidence to push further. I thought, ‘Maybe I can do this for a living.’”
Today, Col. Don Schofield BMus ’89 is the 16th commander and conductor of the United States Air Force Band, heading six major ensembles that, collectively, perform nearly 1,600 times a year—from ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery to international tours that double as acts of cultural diplomacy.
But his journey to this role began in a band room in Gwinnett County. Schofield, a tuba player, excelled in competitions and all-state bands throughout high school and went on to study music education in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. He was in the Redcoat Band, which is where he also met his wife, Laura Wood Schofield BMus ’90.
“The faculty at Georgia made me feel important and valued,” he says. “Those years gave me the foundation, musically and personally, for everything that came after.”
After completing his master’s degree at Louisiana State University, he found a job teaching high school band in Effingham County and thought he had found his calling. But a friend encouraged him to audition for a conducting role with the Air Force Band, an idea he initially dismissed as out of reach.
“These were the bands producing recordings I grew up listening to as a model of what an excellent band is,” he says. “I thought, ‘There’s no way I could do that.’”
He auditioned anyway and aced it. Then he turned the position down, unwilling to abandon his students in Effingham just as the school year was beginning.
“I didn’t plan for military service, but sometimes opportunity is where luck and preparation meet.”
COL. DON SCHOFIELD, 16TH COMMANDER AND CONDUCTOR OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE BAND
But the Pentagon called back.
Officials offered Schofield a delayed enlistment. And he and Laura decided to take the leap of faith.
“It was an adventure that no one we knew had ever had,” he says. “I didn’t plan for military service, but sometimes opportunity is where luck and preparation meet.”
Since then, Schofield’s career has taken him around the globe, from performances at the White House and schools in Brazil to sold-out stadiums in Scotland. In 2019, President Donald Trump awarded Schofield and the Air Force Band the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given to artists and patrons of the arts by the United States government.
Schofield’s passion goes beyond perfect performances and is rooted in a belief that music connects people. Success isn’t measured in flawless notes, he says, but in whether a bridge is built between the performers and the listeners, making a lasting bond.
“Did that family at Arlington feel comfort? Did that foreign dignitary want to keep the conversation going? Does that relationship last past the music?” Schofield says. “If so, then we’ve done our job.”