John Philip Sousa to conduct 2,000 Band Day musicians

On Nov. 9, 1927 John Philip Sousa visited Purdue to make a special presentation to its band. On Sept. 6, 2003, Sousa’s spirit returns to energize 2,000 Purdue Band Day musicians from 26 high school bands who’ll perform a “Sousa Spectacular” at halftime of the Purdue-Bowling Green football game in Ross-Ade Stadium.

Ohio band director Marcus Neiman, who’s become known for bringing Sousa to life, will not only don the high-collared director’s suit with glittery braid and immaculate white gloves for Purdue Band Day, but will employ some of the March King’s characteristic directing moves.

“Sousa had a style, a flair that just endeared him to his audiences,” says Neiman who sees Sousa as the ultimate entertainer. “He wanted his audience to walk away whistling a tune and enjoy what they heard, and he did it better than anyone else.”

Throughout his long career, Sousa actively encouraged music education and performance throughout the Big 10 universities. His reason for coming to Purdue in 1927 was to present a sterling silver loving cup to director Paul Spotts Emrick in recognition of the excellence of Purdue’s band program. The silver cup is still displayed in the band’s Elliott Hall offices.
That connection, and the enduring popularity of Sousa’s marches, encouraged David Leppla, Director of the Purdue “All-American” Marching Band to bring Neiman to conduct at Band Day and pass that love onto a new generation.

High school bands come from all over Indiana attend the annual event. They come from as far as Michigan City to the north to Rushville in south and Columbia City in the east. The Greater Lafayette area is represented in 2003 by Harrison, McCutcheon, Carroll, Clinton Prairie, Seeger, Delphi, Frankfort and North White high schools along with Band Day’s newest participant the West Lafayette High School Marching “Red Devils.”

In it’s first year the 28-member West Lafayette band is “small by mighty,” says director Matt Conaway. He always knew that when he got enough students interested to form a marching band that one of their first outings would be to Purdue’s Band Day.
“To maintain interest, you want to take them to many opportunities to do unique things - things they wouldn’t be able to do in just a band class. There’s nothing like the sound of 2,000 people on the football field all playing the same thing,” he says. “I want to see their eyes pop out of their head when they hear that first note.”

For the Band Day Show, the massed bands will perform a “Sousa Spectacular” that includes the director’s most famous marches – “The Washington Post March,” “King Cotton,” “El Capitan,” “Semper Fidelis” and “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Because Sousa always mixed his music in with popular music of the day, the show will also include George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and an arrangement of “God Bless America” By Purdue alum Ed Montgomery.

The closer is particularly appropriate because “Sousa was an extreme patriot. He considered himself the Pied Piper of patriotism. The guy was a character,” Neiman says.

Sousa’s band toured the country extensively between 1892 and 1932 and is not only credited with championing works of American composers but for bringing European works by Dvorak, Grieg and Wagner to little burgs and do it before orchestras did,” says Neiman. “He also took American music to Europe. He hated jazz but European audiences loved it so he introduced Europe to jazz.”

Many of his musicians went on to be band directors. One, a flute player named Meredith Willson, wrote the smash Broadway hit “The Music Man.”

All the Band Day participants work on the halftime show music prior to coming to Purdue. Then, in an early morning rehearsal on Sept. 6, Neiman works directly with the students to polish the tunes. “If I could do just one thing it would be to encourage some of those kids who’ve never played Sousa marches to play another one,” Neiman says.

Participants in Band Day 2003 include: