United States Marine Band To Perform At Half Hollow Hills High School East To Host Only Performance On Long Island

As part of its 2017 national concert tour, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band will perform on Saturday, October 21, 2017 at 7:30 p.m., in the Half Hollow Hills High School East Eugene Orloff Auditorium in Dix Hills, NY. The concert, sponsored by the Half Hollow Hills Central School District, is the only performance by the Marine Band on Long Island and is free and open to the public.

On July 12, 2014, the Marine Band performed a Change of Command Concert conducted by retiring Director Col. Michael J. Colburn, former Director Col. Timothy W. Foley, and incoming Director Lt. Col. Jason K. Fettig. The Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James F. Amos officiated Col. Colburn’s retirement ceremony and was assisted by Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Micheal P. Barrett and Marine Band Drum Major Gunnery Sgt. Duane F. King. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Master Sgt. Kristin duBois/released)

Free tickets are available, with a limit of four per request, by visiting https://marineband.ticketleap.com/us-marine-band-national-tour-dix-hills-ny/. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Ticket holders must be seated by 7:15 p.m.; non-ticket holders will be admitted at that time.

“Half Hollow Hills is so excited to be hosting the only performance on Long Island of the President’s Own Marine Band,” said Darlene Lilla, the director of fine arts at Half Hollow Hills. “In addition to the concert, we are proud to offer master classes to our music students before the concert, presenting them with a private and in-depth lesson with the Marine Band.”

In the style of the band’s 17th director, John Philip Sousa, who initiated the concert tour tradition in 1891, Marine Band Director Lt. 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 Lt. 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.