If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, join “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band for “American Musical Tapestry,” a concert celebrating the many types of music present in American culture. The Marine Band will take the stage for this exceptional performance at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22 at Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in Alexandria, Virginia.

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Directions

Here’s what Marine Band Associate Director Capt. Darren Lin had to say about the program:

“American” music is such a broad term that does not give enough credit to the many innovative artists that call this country home. This program explores many different types of “song” in our national lexicon – love songs, hymns, ballads, waltzes and more!

I am excited to feature my incredible colleagues in the saxophone section with William Bolcom’s Concerto Grosso for Saxophone Quartet and Band. The Marine Band is lucky to have nine of the finest classical saxophone players in the nation in our group. Despite the saxophone’s origins from Belgium (believe it or not!), I can’t think of another instrument that has had such a significant influence on the American sound.

Bolcom is one of my favorite composers. His music is clever, incredibly intelligent, sometimes sardonic and still listener friendly. I’m very excited to share his Concerto Grosso with our audience on Feb. 22.

There are several other works on the program that I’m especially excited to present to the audience: Dwayne Milburn’s American Hymnsong Suite is one which springs to mind. As the name implies, Milburn composed this piece with inspiration from his family’s history performing church music. The suite is only 10 minutes long, but it packs a lot into that time!

We’ll continue with Julian Work’s Autumn Walk and an exciting performance of Variations on “America” by the legendary Charles Ives. This is an early work by Ives, written in 1891 well before he rose to prominence and forgotten for many years until it was rediscovered in 1949. It quickly entered the mainstream repertoire, and I think audiences will see why! “America” is a familiar tune to many of our patrons; it is often known in the United States as “My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” and I hope our patrons will enjoy the variations Ives put on one of our most familiar patriotic songs.

Last, but certainly not least, the band will perform William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 1, Afro-American, which draws heavily on the blues to express emotions of joy, sorrow, resilience and longing to the audience. Still wrote the entire piece in a remarkably short amount of time (some accounts say as little as a few weeks!), but the listener would never know.

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Admission to the performance is free, no tickets are required.