Annapolis, Maryland
The United States Naval Academy was founded in 1845 on the site of Fort Severn, and now occupies an area of land reclaimed from the Severn River next to the Chesapeake Bay. The Annapolis area was the home of a VLF-transmitter called NSS Annapolis, which was used by the United States Navy to communicate with its Atlantic submarine fleet. Students that attend the Naval Academy are enrolled in school for four years with a following five year commitment to serving in the Marine Corps or Navy. There is a typical average of around 4,500 students enrolled.
Music of Annapolis
In the 1970s, under bandmaster Ned E. Muffley integrated women into the Naval Academy's music program, while the Academy's first rock band, Tidal Wave, also saw some national success. His successor, William J. Phillips, established lush, thematic performances featuring largely original compositions; the changes attracted new audiences and the Academy Band became internationally renowned. In 1973, Gayle Slayter was recruited for the Band, becoming known as the "Naval Academy's First Lady of Song" over the course of her twenty-year career.