Local orchestra gets big lift from Trump wedding
By Sharon Wernlund, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, February 21, 2005
STUART — Long before his hit reality TV series, The Apprentice, Donald Trump was
hiring trumpet virtuoso and orchestra leader Michael Rose for gigs at his
exclusive Mar-a-Lago Club.
A decade ago, the real estate mogul-turned TV personality first booked the
soft-spoken, bespectacled conductor for a New Year's Eve party to entertain the
rich and famous at the Palm Beach landmark.
Michael Rose directs at the International Red Cross Ball at the Mar-a-Lago Club,
the site of Donald and Melania Trump's wedding reception, where Rose obliged
celebrity guests with impromptu accompaniments.
Bruce R. Bennett/Palm Beach Post Staff Photographer
Today, the Michael Rose Orchestra, which prides itself on rekindling the romance
of America's swing era, is a favorite on the Palm Beach society circuit.
The band, which plays all kinds of music, often accompanies major artists such
as Maureen McGovern, Neil Sedaka, Al Martino, Frank Sinatra Jr., Bernadette
Peters, Tommy Tune and The Temptations on South Florida tours.
Not bad for a newcomer who arrived in South Florida in 1988.
"I was a nobody but with good credentials," says Rose, 68, of Stuart.
Last month, the Michael Rose Orchestra gained national attention — and a jewel
of a reference — as Donald and Melania Trump's choice of entertainment at the
Mar-a-Lago Club for their lavish wedding reception.
Even Rose was surprised by the outcome.
"I've been in the business for 50 years," Rose says. "This exposure was almost
like being an overnight discovery. We just got a call to do one of the largest
galas in Texas."
For three hours, Rose and his 40-piece orchestra of mostly strings played before
a Who's Who audience with the likes of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani,
singers Billy Joel and Tony Bennett, TV news personalities Barbara Walters and
Katie Couric, and Miami Heat basketball star Shaquille O'Neal.
Per Melania's wishes, musicians in white dinner jackets performed a romantic
medley of music by classical and great American composers. Impromptu
accompaniments for singing guests were happily offered.
"All of a sudden, we were hit with a barrage of celebrities — Tony Bennett, Vic
Damone, Billy Joel," Rose says. "I was on stage and someone was pulling my
trouser leg. I looked down, and there's Paul Anka asking me, 'Can you play My
Way in the key of C?' "
A week after the wedding, Rose received a handshake from Trump himself as well
as a personal letter from the newlyweds. It reads in part:
"Thank you so much for making our wedding night so magical. Your orchestra is
breathtaking. Your performance exceeded our expectations in every way. We will
never forget the beautiful sounds of the Michael Rose Orchestra."
Rose and his wife, Sandra, both Long Island natives, have been married for 45
years. For 26 years, Rose was a music director for one of Long Island's school
districts, while playing at the legendary Copacabana and other New York night
clubs. In the mid-1980s, he toured in Europe with a ghost band for Glenn Miller.
While their daughter attended the University of Florida, Sandra Rose toured the
state's east coast on spring break and liked what she saw. Soon, the couple made
Boca Raton their home, and Rose was freelancing as a musician.
In 1990, the Michael Rose Orchestra was launched as a family-owned business.
He's the talent. She's his business manager. Sandra handles everything from
promotions and publicity to booking the orchestra dates and contract
negotiations.
"It's so much easier with just me and him," she says. "There's no middleman. We
don't have to wait for somebody else to make a decision."
From Vero Beach to Miami, the Michael Rose Orchestra entertains audiences for
special events, art exhibitions, weddings and charity balls at country clubs,
museums, galleries and posh resorts.
Last month, the Trumps' wedding reception shared a busy calendar of prominent
engagements in Palm Beach, including a charity gala at The Breakers with Al
Martino and Mary Tyler Moore, a private party featuring Frank Sinatra Jr. and
the International Red Cross Ball with Neil Sedaka at Mar-a-Lago.
Rose attributes his orchestra's meteoric rise to its niche — matching the
standards of the big band greats. His musicians play the same arrangements as
the original artists.
"My library has arrangements from every one of those bands, and we duplicate
them exactly as they are — note for note," says Rose.
Four years ago, the orchestra added a vocal group, The Rosebuds, to resurrect
the hits of Rosemary Clooney, the Mills Brothers, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day,
Peggy Lee and Sarah Vaughan.
In 1994, the Michael Rose Orchestra gained name recognition in a promotional
partnership with radio station WJBW (Jukebox 99.5-FM).
More exposure came from a television special for WXEL-Channel 42. For eight
years, the Michael Rose Orchestra has been the station's resident orchestra and
is heard on PBS and NPR stations serving Palm Beach County and the Treasure
Coast.
There are also six CDs, including Rose Colored Classics and Michael Rose Live at
WXEL.
Meanwhile, Rose is passionate in his mission to perpetuate the famous bands of
the Swing era for generations to come.
"Give me a rock 'n' roll song that's as sophisticated and clever as George
Gershwin's "Our love is here to stay" or Cole Porter's "I get no kick from
champagne," Rose says. "It's the difference between reading a Hemingway novel or
a comic book. It's that simple."
Telephone
in South Florida: (772) 219-1000
Outside South Florida, Toll-Free: (888) 357-0900
CD's available
at
Barnes and Noble
and
Amazon.com
Proud Members of:
National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences
Palm Beach, Florida, Chamber of Commerce
Stuart, Florida, Chamber of Commerce
American Federation of Musicians
International Trumpet Guild