Music of the Regiment (MotR) is an ensemble of musicians and network of researchers dedicated to the study and performance of 18th and 19th century European & American military music. As a performing ensemble, MotR is everything from a single drummer to a full period-instrument wind band (flutes, clarinets, oboes, bassoons, horns, trombones, trumpets, serpent, and more). As a research collective, MotR strives to historically contextualize military musicians and their contributions to music history over the last three hundred years.
Core Members
Dominic Giardino, co-director & historical clarinets
Historical clarinetist Dominic Giardino enjoys a varied professional life as a performer, administrator, and researcher. This season, Dominic can be heard in the period-instrument orchestras of the Smithsonian Academy, Opera Lafayette, Boston Baroque, and the Washington Bach Consort. He appears regularly in concerts with the Raleigh Camerata, Three Notch’d Road: The Virginia Baroque Ensemble, and Wit’s Folly. Dominic has recorded with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem Orchestra, and Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band. He is the executive director of Arizona Early Music, instructor of historical clarinets at the University of North Texas, and the historical ensembles program coordinator with George Mason University’s Green Machine Athletic Bands. Dominic is a 2016 Fulbright grantee and holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.
Chris Troiano, co-director & baritone/bass horns
Baritone/bass hornist & co-director Dr. Chris Troiano is the Historical Ensembles Program Manager at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA and is the Program Director of the 8th Green Machine Regiment Band, a mid-19th century brass band that performs music of the American Civil War on period brass instruments. Chris is also the co-host of the Early American Brass Band Podcast, a podcast focusing on sharing research and performances of brass bands from 1835-2023. Chris’ primary instrumental focus is low brass and he is an active teacher and performer on euphonium, baritone, trombone, ophicleide, and military serpent. Chris resides in Springfield, VA with his wife, JennaMarie, and tripawd dog, Gizmo.
Emily Barone, director of field music & historical flutes
Emily Barone is a native of Baltimore, MD. Her musical studies began on piano at age seven with her grandmother and Santa Fe Opera Company singer, Valerie Murphy, taking up the flute at age nine, and the fife at age 12. Emily earned her Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance with a Minor in Early Music at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and her principal teachers have included Ms. Sara Nichols and Ms. Laurie Sokoloff on flute/piccolo, Ms. Gwyn Roberts on baroque flute, and Mr. Donald Heminitz on fife. Emily has been a Fife Instrumentalist in the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps since 2016, where she has arranged performance music for the ensemble and oversees the Center for Martial Music, a center for field music research. She is also currently serving as the Secretary for the Company of Fifers and Drummers.
Emily is also very passionate about animal welfare and animal behavior, primarily in a shelter setting, and she loves spending time with her pets and working with animals at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria.