Baseball and Sousa

(Sousa's 1902 baseball team with Sousa sitting in the front-middle)

John Philip Sousa's band covered more than a million train track miles during a 39-year period. They performed almost every day and traveled a great deal. The bandsmen spent most of their time together and enjoyed playing sports. The band actually had a baseball team and Sousa was the pitcher occasionally.

"The National Game" was written by Sousa in 1925 in honor of the National League's 50th anniversary. Here is a YouTube video including the march.

The Dream Rocket

I discovered an interesting website this past weekend!

The Dream Rocket is a collaborative effort from people across the country and around the world. Using the idea of dreams, artists are invited to submit artwork which will be used to cover a 37 story Saturn V Moon rocket.

I plan on participating with my band students by tying it into our semester composer project.