UMASS FINE ARTS CENTER

Col. Jason K. Fettig (UMass alumnus '98) brings The United States Marine Band "The President's Own" to UMass as part of their 2017 national concert tour. The concert, sponsored by UMass Wind Studies and the UMass Fine Arts Center, is free and open to the public.

Tickets will be distributed by UMASS Fine Arts Center Box Office beginning Sept. 5. Questions about tickets, call (413) 545-2511. Box office website: www.fineartscenter.com

In the style of the band’s 17th Director John Philip Sousa, who initiated the concert tour tradition in 1891, Marine Band Director Col. Jason K. Fettig has chosen a diverse mix of programs from traditional band repertoire and Sousa marches to instrumental solos and a salute to the Armed Forces.

“We always try to highlight music on our programs that celebrates the region we are visiting, whether it be marches that provide a connection or folk music that might be associated with certain areas of the country,” said Marine Band Director Col. Jason K. Fettig. “We have tremendously appreciative patrons who come to Marine Band concerts for all types of different experiences, so our programs are designed to include a great variety of music that mirrors the wonderful diversity in our national musical heritage.”

By the end of the tour, the Marine Band will have traveled 2,551 miles throughout the northeast, performing 28 concerts in 10 states, with stops in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware.

The Marine Band is America’s oldest continuously active professional musical organization. Founded in 1798, the band has performed for every U.S. President since John Adams. Known as “The President’s Own” since the days of Thomas Jefferson, the Marine Band’s primary mission is to provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps. 

Learn more about the Marine Band: www.marineband.marines.mil