At 101, Col. Arnald Gabriel Returns to the Conductor’s Podium in Alexandria
The Alexandria resident, World War II veteran and former U.S. Air Force Band commander will conduct on the Del Ray stage that bears his name.
Alexandria, VA – At 101, Col. Arnald D. Gabriel is still finding his way back to the conductor’s podium.
On Oct. 3, the Alexandria resident and former commander of the U.S. Air Force Band will conduct “America the Beautiful” and “El Capitan” with the NOVA Concert Band during Art on the Avenue. The performance will take place on the Colonel Arnald D. Gabriel Band Stage, named in his honor.
For Gabriel, it is a hometown moment. He and his family put down roots in Alexandria during his military career, and his son Robert remains a Del Ray resident and musician.
Gabriel was born in 1925 and served as a combat machine gunner with the U.S. Army’s 29th Infantry Division during World War II. After the war, he pursued music—eventually leading the U.S. Air Force Band from 1964 until his retirement in 1985. He also conducted the Air Force Symphony Orchestra and the Singing Sergeants, later becoming the Air Force Band’s first Conductor Emeritus and teaching at George Mason University.
Retirement, apparently, did not mean retirement from the baton.
When Gabriel turned 100 in 2025, he was unable to travel to Illinois to fulfill a longtime promise to conduct the Wheaton Municipal Band. So he conducted from home by video, with the musicians following his direction on monitors during their concert. CBS News later featured the moment on Steve Hartman’s “On the Road.”
Gabriel’s simple explanation was fitting for a man who has kept his commitments for more than a century: “Your word is your bond.”
Now, more than eight decades after his wartime service, Gabriel will again lead musicians before an Alexandria audience—proof that a life of service, music and determination can still have an encore.
[For unabridged story, see https://thezebra.org/2026/09/15/arnald-gabriel-nova-community-band/]
