Arnald Gabriel continued to conduct after he retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1985.
Courtesy of U.S. Air Force
When Arnald Gabriel was conducting concerts regularly more than two decades ago, his colleague told him, half-jokingly, “Gabe, I think you will still be conducting when you’re 100.”
Gabriel replied, “I plan to.”
Bruce Moss, Gabriel’s colleague, sent Gabriel a contract that bound him to conduct Moss’ municipal band in Wheaton in 2025. Gabriel happily signed it.
Gabriel turned 100 years old in May, but because he now struggles to walk, he couldn’t fly to Illinois. Moss found another way for Gabriel to keep his word.
Moss sent a film crew to record Gabriel conducting two songs in his Alexandria, Virginia, condominium, last month. During the concert a week later, his wrinkled face, creased with experience, appeared on an auditorium screen, as CBS News first reported.
As Gabriel moved his right arm back and forth on the screen, a timpani roll began in real time on the stage. Moments later, when Gabriel swayed both his arms to lead the band, the 85-member group erupted into playing “America the Beautiful.”
Wheaton Municipal Band players followed Arnald Gabriel on an auditorium stage in Wheaton, Illinois, through monitors on July 26.
Courtesy of Wheaton Municipal Band
Conducting has come naturally to Gabriel since he was in high school, he told The Washington Post, and he felt the same conducting the Wheaton concert remotely.
“I was in my element,” Gabriel said. “To me, it was never a job. It was always a joy.”
Gabriel’s love for music began as a child in Cortland, New York, where his father, Ferdinando, sang along to Italian opera music that played on the small radio in the grocery store he owned. Gabriel conducted for the first time at his high school graduation in 1943, after which he recalled his late band teacher, Burton Stanley, telling him, “I wish I could do it that well.”
A few weeks later, Gabriel joined the U.S. Army as an infantryman. While stationed in Germany in 1945, Gabriel said, two members of his squad were fatally shot while Gabriel was resting. He couldn’t sleep for a week.
After Gabriel was discharged later that year, he didn’t know what to do with his life. Stanley encouraged him to study music education at New York’s Ithaca College and helped pay for him to attend, Gabriel said. Music helped Gabriel cope with his war trauma.
Gabriel joined the U.S. Air Force as a bandleader in 1951 and was named the conductor of the Air Force Band, stationed in D.C., in 1964.
Arnald Gabriel, seen here in 1975, was the conductor of the U.S. Air Force Band.
Courtesy of U.S. Air Force
During a concert in Bristol, Tennessee, in 1971, Moss, who played trumpet in his high school band in nearby Kingsport, skipped school to attend. The concert — which featured Americana music and an announcer introducing Gabriel — partly inspired Moss to pursue a career in music. At the time, Moss said, he couldn’t imagine meeting someone as talented as Gabriel.
Moss became the conductor of the Wheaton Municipal Band in Illinois in 1979.
Gabriel, meanwhile, performed across the United States and in roughly 50 other countries until he retired in 1985. He continued to conduct afterward, and in 1992, Moss worked up the courage to ask Gabriel to conduct a performance in Wheaton.
Gabriel accepted and knew the music so well, he didn’t need to read sheet music while he conducted. He returned to Wheaton, at Moss’ invitation, to conduct a few other performances in the following years.
Arnald Gabriel, left, and Bruce Moss in the early 2000s.
Courtesy of Bruce Moss
During one of those trips, Moss predicted Gabriel would still be conducting when he was 100 years old and sent him a contract saying Gabriel would lead a performance in 2025, which Gabriel signed.
“We don’t know where we will be in 23 years but … We all need a carrot in front of us to keep going,” Gabriel wrote in an email to Moss in September 2002.
Gabriel wrote that the contract would be nulled if he died before he became a centenarian.
“But don’t bet on it!” he added.
While Gabriel and Moss lost the contract over the years, Gabriel regularly reminded Moss that he was excited for his 100th birthday performance.
But in May, as the day neared, Gabriel’s son, Steven, told Moss that his dad couldn’t fly. Moss, 72, thought he would have to cancel Gabriel’s performance, but he was determined to fulfill the contract. He hired a film crew to record Gabriel at his condo.
At the July 26 concert, the lights dimmed in an auditorium and a screen rolled down from the ceiling to show a video of Gabriel, wearing his light blue uniform that included two Bronze Stars, a Combat Infantryman’s Badge and a patch on the left side that said “THE USAF BAND.” Moss, who conducted most of the concert, introduced Gabriel.
“We are both keeping our promise,” he told the crowd. “Happy birthday.”
While dozens of spectators watched Gabriel on the screen, band members followed Gabriel on monitors in front of them. After “America the Beautiful,” the band performed “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” The crowd gave a standing ovation.
Afterward, Moss played a prerecorded conversation with Gabriel, whom he asked: “Shall we just go ahead and send you a contract for your 105th birthday?”
Gabriel agreed to sign it.
Arnald Gabriel, right, with the U.S. Air Force Band in 1965.
Courtesy of U.S. Air Force
Gerald Steele is the founder of Stonegate Health Rehab. He shares expert insights, recovery tips, and rehab resources to support individuals on their journey to wellness.