‘Viva Amor’: Couple embody festival’s theme
Al Sturchio first saw the love of his life in 1950 at St. Mary’s University Band Hall.
Seventeen-year-old Janice Marty stepped down the staircase, a vision in a white blouse, blue skirt and saddle Oxford shoes. Sturchio was smitten.
The moment the high school senior visited her brother sparked a love affair with the lead trumpet player that spans several decades. It is the cornerstone and path that led to Sturchio’s long career as a high school band director and educator.
Sturchio, 95, and his wife will be featured guests at the 88th annual Battle of Flowers Band Festival on Thursday, April 25, at Alamo Stadium, 110 Tuleta Dr. On the eve of the Battle of Flowers Parade, more than 3,300 student musicians from 35 South Texas high schools will compete for awards and the title of area top band.
In April 1950, a burly young Sturchio and lithe Janice Marty met beneath the goalpost at the south end of Alamo Stadium. It was during Fiesta Week’s Battle of Flowers Night Band Festival. The field became a site where he conducted high school bands for years.
Barbie Walther, chairwoman of the band festival committee for the parade, said the couple embody the festival’s theme, “¡Viva Amor! 2024.”
As a nationally recognized trumpet player, Sturchio conducted and played for famous acts that included Johnny Carson, Jack Benny, Sonny and Cher, James Brown and Kenny Rodgers.
In 1985, he was elected to the Texas Bandmasters Association Hall of Fame. He served as Grand Marshall of the Fiesta Flambeau Parade in 1997. In 2022, Sen. Joaquin Castro and Congress recognized Sturchio as an Ambassador of San Antonio.
“I couldn’t have done all these other things if I couldn’t find a lady who let me do it,” Sturchio said. “The Lord has been good to me in all endeavors.”
Janice, 91, recalled she let her husband kiss her on their first date — he was the first person she ever kissed.
The son of immigrants, Sturchio is proud of his family’s musical heritage, which began 133 years ago in Naples, Italy, with his grandfather Alfredo Sturchio, a master musician who played with Puccini and emigrated to Pittsburgh in 1909.
Sturchio was 5 years old when his father, Frank “Pop” Sturchio, gave him his first music lesson. Three years later, he began playing the trumpet.
An only child, Sturchio was born in Wauchula, Florida. His father moved the family to San Antonio while stationed at Randolph Air Field.
In 1951, Sturchio graduated from St. Mary’s University with a bachelor’s degree in music education. Later that year, on a Saturday, he was leaving to play golf when he received a telegram with instructions to report to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for active duty.
Janice wrote him every day during his enlistment. In 1952, he was wounded in action in Korea. Still, amid explosions and gunfire, his faith never faltered. He later was awarded a Purple Heart.
Sturchio received a master of education degree in 1959 and taught with his father at St. Mary’s University for six years.
The music still flows with the couple’s three children, Ditto, Tina and Ann. The Sturchios plan to celebrate their 71st wedding anniversary on Dec. 28.
He began his career as a high school band director in 1953 at Lanier High School. A fond memory is hearing the band at the first rehearsal. After a few bars, he wasn’t pleased with the sound. But at their first UIL marching contest, the band received a first-division award.
Teaching the students led to friendships with their families.
It wasn’t odd at lunchtime to come to his office and find a student’s mother had left a plate of enchiladas on his desk. Over the years, Sturchio taught at Hondo High School, South San Antonio High School and Roosevelt High School.
For more than 10 years, Sturchio led the “Sound of the Spurs,” a six-member band that played during San Antonio Spurs games at the old Hemisfair Arena. Like the raucous Baseline Bums, the band was a fixture at Spurs games. His daughter, Tina Sturchio, sang with the band that started in his garage.
“It was a surprise,” she said of her father bringing her into the group. “It wasn’t easy, but it was the most fun.”
Away from the arena, they played at weddings and clubs as “Essence.”
It felt like working three jobs at once. He’d rise early, teach all day, attend after-school rehearsals, catch two hours of sleep, and then repeat.
In June 1986, Sturchio retired as an educator. Golf and gigs, that’s what he misses.
One of Sturchio’s fondest memories was playing with George “The Iceman” Gervin at a Spurs golf tournament at the Pecan Valley Golf Course.
He recalled Gervin, his partner, had never played the game. At the 11th hole, Sturchio showed him how to grip the club. The basketball icon swung behind the ball. By the 15th hole, Gervin had hit the ball on the green for a birdie.
“That’s an athlete,” Sturchio said. “We’ve been friends ever since then.”
A framed picture of the group hangs in a room he called his “man cave,” along with other photos and posters from his storied career. Clasped shut in a faded black case is a memento from his youth. With care, he opened the lid and brushed his fingers lightly across a trumpet laid in purple velvet. It was the brass instrument he first played when he was 8 years old.
After midnight, Janice Sturchio is often awakened by the slight sound of a muffled melody from her husband’s man cave. She’s never startled or surprised.
It’s the man whose breath she took away years ago, rehearsing with a practice mute — he’s just warming up.