U.S. Air Force Band Singing Sergeants members and SUNY Fredonia alumni Michael Aiello (baritone) and Hillary Grobe (alto).
Two members of the United States Air Force Band Singing Sergeants are returning to where their musical aspirations took flight.
Technical Sgt. Michael Aiello (baritone) and Master Sgt. Hillary Grobe (alto) are graduates of the School of Music at SUNY Fredonia. They will return to campus when the United States Air Force Concert Band and Singing Sergeants perform on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m., in King Concert Hall.
The concert is free, but tickets are required. Tickets are available online 24/7. They may also be obtained on Monday, Wednesday or Friday by phone at (716) 673-3501 or in person at the Fredonia Ticket Office in the Williams Center during the same hours.
Aiello joined the United States Air Force Band in 2022. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from Fredonia, majoring in Music Education, and later a Master of Music degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music where he was the recipient of the Renee Fleming Endowed Scholarship.
“It was a brand-new world for me,” Technical Sgt. Aiello, a Buffalo native, said of SUNY Fredonia. “It was a welcoming environment. At the School of Music, I was around a group of people who shared my love of music.”
He fondly recalls time spent in the second- and third-floor practice rooms in the older section of Mason Hall, looking out the large windows and watching snow fall in the winter.
During his undergraduate years, Aiello was a member of the Fredonia Chamber Singers – an experience which had a profound impact on his future.
“Performing with the Chamber Singers made me fall in love with performance,” he said. “It made me realize that I could do this as a career.”
Among the Aiello’s memorable moments at Fredonia was performing Handel’s “Messiah” with a chorus that was under the direction of the late Dr. Gerald Gray.
“It was a performance that I will never forget,” he said.
Master Sgt. Grobe, also a Buffalo native, recalled finding the same welcoming environment at Fredonia.
“The Voice and Choral departments became a family for us,” she said. “We are the musicians we are today because of who they were and who they are.”
Grobe said her memorable Fredonia performances included the those with the Women’s Choir under Gwen Coleman and several Hillman Opera productions with SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus Julie Newell and Dr. Angela Haas.
Her “pivotal moment” came when she performed in “Cosi fan tutte” with the Western New York Chamber Orchestra in King Concert Hall.
“That was the moment I realized this was what I wanted to do with my life,” Grobe said.
After earning her Fredonia degree with majors in Vocal Performance and Music Education, she went on to receive a master’s degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. While at SUNY Fredonia, she received the Charles C. Eikenburg Scholarship in Opera/Vocal Performance, established through the Fredonia College Foundation. Grobe joined the U.S. Air Force Band in 2017.
The Oct. 16 concert will mark Grobe’s first time on campus since her graduation. She was reaching out to her former roommates in hopes they may be able to attend the event.
“The friends I made at Fredonia are like family now,” Grobe said. “We support each other in our careers and life in general.”
Aiello and Grobe said they have found a family atmosphere like Fredonia with The Singing Sergeants.
“I get to work with some of my best friends,” Aiello said of the ensemble.
In addition, the Fredonia alumni said they appreciate the opportunity to perform a variety of music from opera and choral to pop and country and show tunes and jazz.
“Every single style you can think of — and you get to hone those skills,” Aiello said.
And they get to share those styles and their skills with diverse audiences.
“I feel being a military musician is the most impactful way to share our skills,” Grobe said. “We sing across the United States and around the world. One week, we may be at the White House and the next we could be in Oklahoma singing in a high school gymnasium.”
The free Oct. 16 concert with the United States Air Force Concert Band and Singing Sergeants is sponsored by The Observer, The Post-Journal and WDOE/96 KIX Country as part of the 2025-26 Lake Shore Bank Season at Rockefeller Arts Center.
