"The President's Own" Announces 2011 Concert Tour

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "The President's Own" United States Marine 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. The band will perform its first concert at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 1, at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Md., and will conclude its national tour at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 31, at Clover Hill High School in Midlothian, Va. Concerts are free, but tickets are required. The complete itinerary and ticket information is available at www.marineband.usmc.mil/national_tour.

Colonel Michael J. Colburn, Director of the Marine Band, has compiled several concert programs to entertain the diverse audiences throughout the Southeast. Tour concerts will include music by John Philip Sousa, Gustav Holst, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Georges Bizet, Carl Maria von Weber, Adam Gorb, and Michael Gandolfi. Each tour concert ends with a Salute to the Armed Forces of the United States, featuring all of the military service songs.  

Concerts will highlight a variety of soloists including pianist Gunnery Sgt. Russell Wilson performing Edvard 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. Also, 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."

For the states specific to upcoming tour regions, visit www.marineband.usmc.mil/national_tour.

Anyone interested in pursuing sponsorship of a Marine Band tour concert may contact the Marine Band National Tour Director at (703) 614-1405.

The Marine Band is America's oldest continuously active professional musical organization. Founded in 1798, the band has performed for every U.S. President since John Adams. Known as "The President's Own" since the days of Thomas Jefferson, the Marine Band's primary mission is to provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

CONTACT:  Marine Band Public Affairs Office
(202) 433-5809
[email protected]

SOURCE The President's Own United States Marine Band