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Evocations February 12, 2014 — At 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 9, the Marine Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Assistant Director Captain Michelle A. Rakers, performed music to stir memory and imagination. With his touching and patriotic contribution to the war effort during World War II, Letter from Home, Aaron Copland evoked the strong emotions that are often experienced when a soldier MORE

Weird, Wild Stuff: Music that Thinks Outside of the Box January 31, 2014 — This week’s concert “Weird, Wild Stuff: Music that Thinks Outside of the Box” will highlight a few composers who have not always chosen the road well traveled. To some, the result of their efforts could be seen as wild and even a bit weird, but the things that set this music apart from the norm are the very same things that make it great. MORE

Celebrating Richard Strauss's 150th Anniversary January 22, 2014 — The Marine Band will celebrate the 150th anniversary of composer Richard Strauss with a tribute concert at 2 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 26 at Northern Virginia Community College's Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in Alexandria, Va. Conducted by Assistant Director Capt. Michelle A. Rakers, the concert is free and no tickets are MORE

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day January 15, 2014 — It was a typical December day at the White House—seventeen members of the Marine Orchestra played for a formal luncheon in their special full dress uniforms as Mrs. Roosevelt entertained guests in the Blue Room. But that day the Imperial Japanese Navy attached a U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, thus making Dec. 7, 1941, “a day which will live in MORE

January Audio Includes Sousa March and Marine Chamber Orchestra January 15, 2014 — January’s Director’s Choice audio download features the Marine Chamber Orchestra’s recent performance of Edvard Grieg’s Suite for Strings, Opus 40, “From Holberg’s Time.” The five-movement suite is based on the Baroque dance forms that were popular during the lifetime of one of Scandinavia’s greatest literary figures, Ludvig Holberg. Grieg utilizes MORE

Chamber Concert and Open House January 15, 2014 — “The President’s Own” will once again welcome patrons in from the cold for an afternoon of chamber music, refreshments, and docent-led tours of its Hall of Presidents. The 2 p.m. recital on Jan. 19 coordinated by French horn player Gunnery Sgt. Jennifer Paul will include small chamber ensembles performing Gerard Schwarz’s edition of Johann Ernst MORE

Orchestra Concert: Happy Viennese New Year! January 10, 2014 — Marine Band Director Col. Michael J. Colburn will celebrate the “Waltz King,” Johann Strauss II, with the Marine Chamber Orchestra’s “Happy Viennese New Year!” at 2 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 12. “We’ve saluted the March King for more than a decade,” he said. “So I thought it was high time to salute the Waltz King as well, especially since his music has MORE

Quintets Perform in Your Neighborhood January 10, 2014 — This week members of “The President’s Own” will join forces with musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra to present a joint concert as part of “NSO in Your Neighborhood,” an initiative to connect the NSO and its musicians to the residents of Washington, D.C. A Marine Band brass quintet will play alongside members of the NSO 7:30 p.m., MORE

Cellist Master Sgt. Diana Fish Retires November 20, 2013 — In a ceremony held in the Santelmann Orchestra Hall at the Marine Barracks Annex in Washington, D. C., on Nov. 12, Marine Band Director Col. Michael J. Colburn retired assistant principal cellist Master Sgt. Diana Fish. He also awarded her the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal in recognition of her 21 years of service and such MORE

Marine Band at 150th Anniversary of Gettysburg Address November 20, 2013 — On Tuesday Nov. 19, “The President’s Own” retraced its historic steps as it traveled north for the 150th Anniversary of the dedication of the national cemetery at the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. Marine Band Director Col. Michael Colburn led the band in a special observance of President Abraham Lincoln’s immortal “Gettysburg MORE