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Great Archival Pictures RCAF band

Commander John F “Jack” McGuire

Woman’s Army Corps band 1955-Great Britain

US Marine Band News

Great Archival Pictures RCAF band

I had a  great  meeting  with Gerry Millar over Christmas and he gave me these priceless pictures, read his note at the end of the piece.Many thanks to Gerry

I had the VERY good fortune to join the Air training command band at 1107 Avenue rd in Toronto in Sept.1946!!!!! a couple years later we moved to Downsview–until spring of 1964&we were disbanded 1/2 to Winnipeg&1/2 to Ottawa–I went to Ottawa!!!Most of the guys I played with are dead–afew months ago Vic Bridgewater–Hugh(Shorty)Macoughla (SP)!!There is still a few guys around incl.Ken Moore-Nat Batersby-Ken Gaskell-that guy in Guelph Ed.Barlow .–I played with a lot of the guys mentioned in the letters above including Tony Aquilina- Daryl Eaton-George Kwasniak etc.–I feel I was really lucky to have played with so many great players for 22 years !!!!By the way I TRI ED TO PLAY fR.HRN.ALL THE BEST GERRY MILLAR—- BEAVER !!!!!!!

Altissimo New Releases

• VIRTUAL ALTISSIMO CATALOGUE

• Check these links for New Releases 

• Heritage of John Philip Sousa box set- 

  Altissimo is proud to present The Heritage of John Philip Sousa from the Robert Hoe Collection! These recordings have not been available to the public, and thus over the years, The Heritage of John Philip Sousa became known as the single most respected collection of Sousa recordings. Now, for the first time ever, you can own these rare recordings from the one and only March King. They are presented as nine 2-disc volumes digitally re-mastered from vinyl for optimal sound quality. Included are full liner notes taken from the vinyl complete with stories, biographies, historic pictures and photos, and descriptions of each piece. Along with his popular, well-known marches, this collection also features Sousa’s other great works such as waltzes, suites, operettas, tone poems, and fantasies that are often neglected.

• Ultimate Christmas Combo-

  This collection includes jazz albums like “Cool Yule” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” along with sing-a-long albums “Happy Holidays” and “Sound the Bells.” The Singing Sergeants’ a cappella album “Caroling” is also included. This combo will have a CD for everyone to enjoy this holiday season!

• 50 American Patriotic Songs-

  50 patriotic songs presented as a 3-disc set for a great deal! This album features over 15 marches, traditional American favorites such as “This Land is Your Land,” “God Bless America,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” and “God Bless the USA,” along with all the service songs, and Naval and Air Force hymns. Featuring original compositions by members of the military bands including songs “The Flag Still Flies High,” “They Died For You, They Died For Me,” and “Honor With Dignity.” This is a great patriotic collection with over 2 and half hours of marches, concert band, choral, sing-a-long, and contemporary songs for all to enjoy!

• Day is Done: Music Commemorating the 150 Anniversary of Taps- 

  Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of America’s most famous bugle call, this unique CD recording contains a variety of performances of the bugle call Taps, related bugle calls, and more than 15 orchestrations and musical settings inspired by Taps, including two world premieres. The album features several different bugle and trumpet soloists, and a booklet of photos and extensive program notes accompanies the CD.

• I Am an American- 

  I Am An American is a musical collection that celebrates our nation’s foundation of liberty and democracy. The album starts off with a wonderful symphonic overture setting of America’s national anthem, featuring two stirring patriotic narrations. Then, the recording finishes with one of the greatest marches of all time, “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” The music on the album is played by the talented and world renowned United States Air Force Concert Band and Singing Sergeants. This band is a musical organization that merits its reputation as “America’s International Musical Ambassadors,” for it is truly one of the most potent instruments of goodwill at the command of the American people. In the tradition of the talent and professionalism exuded by The United States Air Force, I Am An American was recorded. From beginning to end, this recording resonates with the joy of our cherished freedom

• Festival of Marches-

  Bandleader Recordings presents A Festival of Marches, featuring 15 more great marches!More New Products from Bandleader Recordings:Britannic Salute, London Salute!, and The Great Marches, Vol 8Music Performed By:
  The Band of the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

http://www.militarymusic.com/ CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR MORE MUSICAL  TREASURES

US Marine Band In Concert REMEMBERING 9/11

In honor of the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, the Marine Chamber Orchestra will participate in two commemorative performances at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Sept. 9 and Sept. 11.Presented by the Pentagon Memorial Fund and the Washington National Cathedral, the orchestra will give a special performance at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 9, in tribute to the Sept. 11 victims and survivors, their families, and emergency response personnel, as well as the fallen military service members whose lives have since been lost in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In conjunction with the U.S. Navy Sea Chanters, the concert will feature Johannes Brahms’ Requiem, featuring soprano soloist Christine Brandes and baritone soloist Eric Owens, and conducted by Colonel Michael J. Colburn. The orchestra will also perform at 8 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 11, along with the Cathedral Choir as part of the Cathedral’s “For a Healing World” concert.Both concerts are free but tickets are required. For free tickets call (202) 537-2228. Can’t make it to the performance? The concerts will stream live on the cathedral’s website and be broadcast on The Pentagon Channel.

Looking Back: Sept. 11, 2002

“The President’s Own” has a long history of providing music to the nation in times of mourning, including it’s participation in memorial services of the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2002. Baritone vocalist Staff Sgt. Kevin Bennear performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” to open a service at the Pentagon attended by President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as well as other dignitaries, victims’ families, and members of the armed services.

Later that day, Colonel Timothy W. Foley led “The President’s Own” in a performance at ground zero in New York while the President and First Lady met and comforted the families of victims. The band, positioned at the base of the ramp leading into the site, performed a two-hour program of music by Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Fauré, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Giuseppe Verdi.

Whether in times of mourning and trial or joy and celebration, “The President’s Own” is honored to have musically supported the nation for more than 200 years, and to continue that support well into the future.

March of the Month

This month’s March of the Month is George W. Warren’s “God of our Fathers,” arranged by former Marine Band arranger Thomas Knox. While “God of our Fathers” is not the official hymn of the United States, it has brought comfort and hope in times of tragedy and an affirmation of patriotism in times of national significance. The lyrics of the original hymn were written by Daniel C. Roberts for the Declaration of Independence centennial in 1876 and the music was composed by Warren for the centennial celebration of the adoptionof the U.S. Constitution in 1887.

Knox arranged the hymn for the Marine Band’s performance at President Ronald Reagan’s 1981 Inauguration and the band has performed the setting at countless concerts and ceremonies, military funerals at Arlington National Cemetery, and events of national significance such as the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982.

“The arrangement is wonderfully constructed and begins softly with great reverence for the hymn,” said Assistant Director Major Jason K. Fettig. The familiar strains of the hymn are introduced by the clarinets then established by the trumpets as the woodwinds provide the perfect countermelody. Coupled with woodwind runs and a walking bass line, the commanding nature of the brass allows the piece to evolve into a triumphal march-one a listener might pair with fireworks and grandiose pageantry.

“God of our Fathers” was recorded on Nov. 8, 2005, in the Catlett Music Center’s Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Conducted by Director Colonel Michael J. Colburn, the Marine Band performed the piece during the National Concert Tour to the Southwest, and according to Maj. Fettig, “the audience was very moved by this setting.”

US Marine Band on Tour- National Tours Began in 1892

Marine Band Tour to the Southeast

“What is the Marine Band of Washington? That everybody knows. It is the pride of the nation and of Washington official life.”

These words were printed in the Marine Band’s 1892 national tour program, dictated by tour manager Mr. David Blakely. In the program, Blakely went on to explain that the band was given permission to tour a portion of the country by the President, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Colonel Commandant of the Marine Corps. The tradition of the Marine Band tour began one year earlier under 17th Director John Philip Sousa when he obtained permission from President Benjamin Harrison to travel with the band to 32 cities and towns in New England and the Midwest.

Read Sousa’s account of obtaining permission

More than a hundred years later, “The President’s Own” continues to tour under the direction of 27th Director Colonel Michael J. Colburn. The band will depart Washington, D.C., Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011, for its annual fall concert tour, performing 29 concerts in 31 days throughout Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.

On its first tour in 1891, the band performed two different programs: one for matinees and another for evening concerts. Both included virtuoso soloists and Sousa’s unique blend of popular music and orchestral transcriptions, as well as his own compositions. Although the audiences clamored for Sousa’s marches, he included them only as encores, offering his audiences what he called the “solid fare” of Richard Wagner, Georges Bizet, Carl Maria von Weber, Edvard Grieg, and others. This year’s “solid fare” will also include music by von Weber and Bizet as well as selections by Gustav Holst, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and American contemporary composers Adam Gorb and Michael Gandolfi.

Col. Colburn has compiled three rotating programs that will highlight a variety of soloists including pianist Gunnery Sgt. Russell Wilson performing Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Opus 16; cornetist Gunnery Sgt. Brian Turnmire playing Herbert L. Clarke’s “The Southern Cross;” and percussionist Staff Sgt. Jonathan Bisesi performing Pablo de Sarasate’s challenging Zigeunerweisen, Opus 20, transcribed for xylophone by former Marine Band arranger Thomas Knox. Concert moderator and mezzo-soprano Staff Sgt. Sara Dell’Omo will offer the vocal medley Sentimental Journey: A World War II Hit Parade, arranged by Marine Band staff arranger Staff Sgt. Ryan Nowlin. The medley includes popular World War II songs such as “Sentimental Journey,” “Accentuate the Positive,” “Stormy Weather,” and “That Old Black Magic.”

A Marine Band concert would certainly not be complete without a Sousa march. So patrons in every tour city will hear “The March King’s” stirring “Semper Fidelis” and the national march of the United States, “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” Each concert will end with a Salute to the Armed Forces of the United States, featuring all of the military service songs.

The 1892 printed tour program stated that the Marine Band is “the band of the White House, of Congress, and … the band which beguiles the guests of the President at all of the White House receptions;” that it “charms them with its delightful strains.” And while the Marine Band mission is to provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Sousa once said, “The Marine Band is the national band … as great among bands as America is among nations.” President George W. Bush declared the band “our nation’s treasure.” General Michael W. Hagee, 33rd Commandant of the Marine Corps said, “Whether in White House performances, public concerts, or national tours, the music of the Marine Band is the music of America.”

And so it will remain. This fall the music of the Marine Band will be heard by thousands of Americans, delightful strains charming concert attendees in concert halls, auditoriums, and arts centers. The very musicians that ‘beguile the guests of the President’ will offer that same musical precision and level of excellence to patrons throughout the Southeast, for the Marine Band is as Sousa put it, ‘the national band.’

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Major Military Music Festival in Moscow

The Public Council and the Direction of the International Military Music Festival “Spasskaya Tower” are pleased to inform you that the next International Military Music Festival “Spasskaya Tower” will take place on the Red Square of Moscow from 31st August – 4th September 2011. The traditional participants of the Festival are divisions of the State Honor Guards, the leading Russian and foreign military music bands and creative cultural groups.

The daily Festival audience only on the Red Square exceeds 7 000 people, and the whole Festival audience is expected to be over 35 000 people (over 100 million people if internet and TV viewers are taken into account).

Festival events and shows traditionally receive extensive Russian and foreign media coverage. In 2010 26 news agencies, 33 TV-channels, 62 print media, 12 radio stations were accredited in the Festival press center. The central TV-channels of France, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Hungary, China, Korea, Kazakhstan, New Zealand and Australia paid attention to the Festival events, and such TV-channels as Euro News, Associated Press, Russia Today, and Mir broadcasted programs dedicated to the Festival almost all over the world. In some foreign countries the Festival shows were transmitted in full on TV.

According to Russian and foreign mass media, guests, participants and spectators the Festival is one of the most impressive and considerable events of the cultural life of Moscow.

The Public Council and the Direction of the International Military Music Festival “Spasskaya Tower” invite the GROUP to take part in the Festival on the Red Square in 2011.

Best regards,