SOUSA, John Philip, American conductor, composer and author : b. Washington, D. C., 6 Nov. 1854, son of Antonio and Elizabeth Sousa. At the age of 11 he first appeared in public as violin soloist; at 15 he was teaching harmony; in 1876 he became one of the first violinists in the orchestra conducted by Offen bach when the latter visited America; later he became conductor for various theatrical and ope ratic companies. In 1880 he was appointed leader of the band of the United States Marine Corps in Washington, serving under Presidents Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland and Harrison until 1 Aug. 1892, when he resigned from the United States service to organize the Sousa Band, which has since then made 38 semi-annual tours throughout America, and has visited Eu rope five times, giving a total of more than 10,000 concerts in 1,000 cities, and covering over 700,000 miles of travel. In 1910, beginning in New York on 6 November, he inaugurated a tour of the world, and visited with his band, Europe, Canary Islands, Africa, Tasmania, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji Islands, Hawaiian Islands, British Columbia and toured across the Continent back to New York, returning after 14 months' travel. Since his band was or ganized, he has appeared at the most prominent of the great expositions in this country, and in Europe, the last and most important being the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915 in San Francisco. As composer of music he established a °march style)) of his own which has been recognized the world over, and he has been called the °March
in every country. Some of the best known and most popular of his productions in this field arc (The Washing ton Post,'
School Cadets,' Liberty Bell,' (Manhattan Beach,'
He has also written several Suites, including, (Three Quotations,' (Looking Upwards,' (Maidens Three,'
the King's Court,' (Last Days of Pompeii,' (Dwellers in the Western World,' (People Who Live in Glass Houses,' (Tales of a Traveler,' (The American Maid' and (Impressions at the Movies.) Also, an his torical scene, 'Sheridan's Ride,' and a sym phonic poem, (The Chariot
He has composed a long list of songs and miscel laneous pieces, and a number of light operas, some of the latter being (The Smugglers,'
Queen of Hearts,'
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