Contact: Lois Estabrook, Manager

Tel. 603/924-3478 (Home)

Date: September 12, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUSA FESTIVAL TO INCLUDE AMERICA’S FIRST TOWN BAND

Temple Band Invited to National Festival to Celebrate John Phillip Sousa

New Hampshire’s own Temple Band will make its fourth appearance in Washington DC; this time to participate in the Fifth Annual National Community Concert Band Sousa Festival. The June 22 - 24, 2012 festival features individual and massed performances by six carefully selected adult community concert bands. Repertoire will emphasize the life and influence of “The March King,” John Philip Sousa on the American Band movement.

The United States Air Force Memorial is the venue for the Sousa Festival’s massed band concert under the direction of the distinguished Col. Arnald D. Gabriel. Individual band concerts will be given at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center at Northern Virginia Community College. The Temple Band will also take part in a performance at the gravesite of John Philip Sousa in Arlington National Cemetery.

The Temple Band, “America’s First Town Band,” was established in 1799 in Temple, New Hampshire with it being noted in the town’s history that the band played for a memorial service for George Washington on February 22, 1800. Continuing a rich tradition of providing music for commemorative events, concerts on the common and even Saturday night dances at the Town Hall, the band was reorganized in its current form in 1975 in preparation for the nation’s bicentennial.

The Temple Band has participated in several events in Washington, DC including the 1983 and 1993 National Independence Day Parades and again in 1999 as part of an “Old Home Days” celebration on The Mall for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Drawing from the Monadnock and Souhegan Valley regions of Southern New Hampshire, band membership includes more than 50 volunteer musicians and support staff. Our membership ranges in age from 8 to 80+ and has become a tradition in several families. The Temple Band is easily recognizable in their tri-corner hats and colonial style uniforms.

Fundraising for the trip will continue throughout the fall and winter. Please contact Lois Estabrook, templebandlogo@wildblue.net for more information.

Donations may be sent to: The Temple Band ♫ PO Box 66 ♫ Temple, NH 03084

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Additional information about John Philip Sousa:

John Philip Sousa, “The March King,” was born in Washington, D.C., to John Antonio de Sousa and Maria Elisabeth Trinkhaus. His parents were of Portuguese and Bavarian (German) descent. John first learned the violin beginning at age 6. He was found to have absolute pitch. When the young Sousa reached the age of 13, his father, a trombonist in the Marine Band, enlisted his son in the United States Marine Corps as an apprentice. The boy soon attempted to run away and join a circus. John served his apprenticeship for seven years, until 1875, and apparently learned to play all the wind instruments while honing his mettle with the violin.

Several years later, John left his apprenticeship to join a theatrical (pit) orchestra where he learned to conduct. He returned to the U.S. Marine Band as its head in 1880, and remained as its conductor until 1892. Sousa also led the marching band of Gonzaga College High School. Sousa organized his own band in 1892. It toured widely, and in 1900, represented the United States at the Paris Exposition before touring Europe. Sousa repeatedly refused to conduct on the radio, fearing a lack of personal contact with the audience. He was finally persuaded to do so in 1929 and became a smash hit. Sousa died in 1932.