ColonelJohn R. Bourgeois is a former conductor of the United States Marine Band from 1979 to 1996, as well as composer / arranger of American music. Bourgeois also currently serves as vice president of the board of trustees of the Sinfonia Educational Foundation. He was initiated as an honorary member of the Zeta Pi chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity at Loyola University in 1956, and as a member of the fraternity's Alpha Alpha National Honorary Chapter in 1997. He was the fraternity's 2000 recipient of the Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award, presented at its national convention in Dallas, Texas.
Colonel Bourgeois, who was born in Gibson, Louisiana, in 1934 and educated at Jesuit High School and Loyola University in New Orleans, served in the Marine Band under every president from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton.
Colonel Bourgeois has two sons, John A. Bourgeois, an attorney in Baltimore, Maryland, and Alexander S. (“Alec”) Bourgeois, a musician, artist, and web creative consultant in Washington, D.C., five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
John Philip Sousa's march "Comrades of the Legion" (1920), from "The President's Own" United States Marine Band's album Semper Fidelis: Music of John Philip Sousa; Colonel John R. Bourgeois, director
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to distinguish him from his British counterpart Kenneth J. Alford. Among his best-known marches are "The Stars and Stripes Forever", "Semper Fidelis", "The Liberty Bell", "The Thunderer", and "The Washington Post".
Frederick Fennell was an internationally recognized conductor and one of the primary figures in promoting the Eastman Wind Ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the US and abroad. In Fennell's New York Times obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin was quoted as saying "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa."
William Francis McBeth was an American composer, whose wind band works are highly respected. His primary musical influences included Clifton Williams, Bernard Rogers, and Howard Hanson. The popularity of his works in the United States during the last half of the twentieth century led to many invitations and appearances as a guest conductor, where he often conducted the premiere performances of some of his compositions, the majority of which were commissioned. His conducting activities took him to forty-eight states, three Canadian provinces, Japan, and Australia; and for a number of years he was principal conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in the capital of Little Rock. At one time, his "Double Pyramid Balance System" was a widely used pedagogical tool in the concert band world.
The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in the United States. Today, the Marine Band includes the Marine Chamber Orchestra and Marine Chamber Ensembles.
Tau Beta Sigma Honorary Band Sorority, is a co-educational service sorority.
Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, is a fraternity for college and university band members in the United States. It was founded on November 27, 1919, on Thanksgiving Day, at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, now known as Oklahoma State University, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
David R. Holsinger is an American composer and conductor writing primarily for concert band. Holsinger is a graduate of Hardin-Central High School in Hardin, Missouri, Central Methodist University, the University of Central Missouri, and the University of Kansas.
Colonel George Sallade Howard was commander and conductor of The United States Air Force Band between 1947 and 1963.
Earle L. Louder was a euphonium player, acclaimed by colleagues around the world as one of the finest virtuosos of all time on that instrument. He carried a Doctor of Music degree in Euphonium Performance.
The Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award is one of the highest honors awarded to members of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity for a lifelong achievement in uplifting the world through art and music. Its recipients include musical legends such as Aaron Copland, W. Francis McBeth, James Levine, Frederick Fennell, Maynard Ferguson, and Col. John R. Bourgeois, USMC (Ret.).
General Johnnie Edward Wilson is a retired United States Army four-star general who served as Commanding General, United States Army Materiel Command from 1996 to 1999. He also served as the 25th Chief of Ordnance for the United States Army Ordnance Corps.
Percy Jewett Burrell was an American author and director of historical and civic pageants. Known for his skills in oratory and elocution, he also taught public speaking and drama, and was known as a "public reciter." A native and lifelong resident of the greater Boston area, he was described by Time magazine as a "professional director of civic and patriotic shows." By the mid-1920s, Burrell had developed a nationwide reputation for his work, having had 75,000 participants in his productions, which had collectively been performed in front of over 900,000 people. According to a printed program used at a service in his memory, "His mastery of the spoken and written word led him to be a well known public speaker with an enviable reputation as a teacher of oratory, and later as an author and director of national distinction." Burrell served as the first supreme historian of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity from 1901 to 1903, and the sixth supreme (national) president of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity from 1907 to 1914, and along with fraternity founder Ossian E. Mills has been credited by fraternity historians with encouraging the early expansion of and formulating the basic ideals espoused by the fraternity. Much of this fundamental philosophy is encapsulated in his presidential messages expounding the fraternity's Object, which appeared in the Sinfonia Yearbooks between 1908 and 1910. Today, these writings are regularly used to instruct the fraternity's probationary members about the fraternity's Object, and the obligations and expectations of fraternity membership.
Alfred George James Wright was an American bandleader who served as the Director of Bands Emeritus at Purdue University and Chairman of the Board of the John Philip Sousa Foundation.
Peter William Dykema was an important force in the growth of the National Association for Music Education, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity, and the music education profession. Dykema was also active in the Music Teachers National Association and the National Education Association Department of Music Education. He also served as 1924-25 chairman of the Kiwanis International Committee on Music. Through these various avenues of involvement, in addition to his work as a composer, author, and educator, he was one of the leading music advocates of his day.
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (ΦΜΑ) is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "who, through a love for music, can assist in the fulfillment of [its] Object and ideals either by adopting music as a profession, or by working to advance the cause of music in America." Phi Mu Alpha has initiated more than 260,000 members, known as Sinfonians, and the fraternity currently has over 7,000 active collegiate members in 249 collegiate chapters throughout the United States.
"Semper Fidelis", written in 1888 by John Philip Sousa, is regarded as the official march of the United States Marine Corps. This piece was one of two composed in response to a request from United States President Chester Arthur for a new piece to be associated with the United States President. The words Semper Fidelis are Latin for "Always Faithful." The piece was created for a wind band in addition to a percussion section. There is a very prominent drum solo in the middle of the piece which includes a skillful dynamic change. It features staccato notes and sharp tonguing.
William Alexander Scroggs, born in Stillwater, Oklahoma, was an insurance agent and Founder of Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity.
Colonel Truman W. "Tru" Crawford (USMC) was a music arranger, composer, and conductor for drum and bugle corps. He was the long-time commander and director of "The Commandant's Own," the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps after having previously served as musical director of the United States Air Force Drum and Bugle Corps.
Jason K. Fettig is a United States Marine Corps colonel who is the music adviser to the President of the United States and the 28th director of the United States Marine Band.
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