by Barry Owen Furrer | Sep 26, 2022 | Biography
September 26th marks the 130th anniversary of the initial concert of Sousa’s New Marine Band held at the Stillman Music Hall in Plainfield, NJ. This would be the first of more than 15,550 concerts that would follow over the next thirty nine years which included four...
by Barry Owen Furrer | Sep 22, 2022 | Biography
Today, September 22nd, 1869 or 1870, marks the birth of Arthur Willard Pryor, who, due to his pyrotechnical abilities on the slide trombone, was crowned “trombone king;” or the “poet” or “Paganini” of the trombone while twelve years soloist with John Philip Sousa’s...
by Barry Owen Furrer | Sep 20, 2022 | Biography
The recent passing of Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and all the pomp and pageantry that has followed her over her 70-year reign had me reflecting on the two occasions that John Philip Sousa and His Band performed before The Royal Family. Within the pages of one...
by Barry Owen Furrer | Aug 19, 2022 | Biography
During President Garfield’s short administration the US Marine Band was called but once to play at the White House, and this with such an odd result that the incident is worth relating. The band had been on duty all day, from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., participating...
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