6/30/16 “Marines’ Hymn,“ Jacques Offenbach, arr. Donald Hunsberger, US Marine Band

As the nation approaches the 240th anniversary of its independence, the United States Marine Band prepares American music and patriotic selections for upcoming concerts on the national mall on Wednesday, June 29 and Thursday, June 30, both at 8 p.m., on the West Terrace of the U.S. Capitol. (Please note this is a change from our usual location on Thursday nights.) This week’s Summer Fare performances at the U.S. Capitol will feature marches by John Philip Sousa, a clarinet duet, and Gene Scheer’s patriotic song, “American Anthem,” heard as a backdrop to World War II footage in Ken Burns’ film The War. The concert will begin with Sousa’s “The Gladiator” and close with the strains of his iconic march “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” “In addition to several other celebratory and patriotic selections chosen for this concert just before Independence Day, our mezzo-soprano Gunnery Sgt. Sara Sheffield will sing Scheer’s moving ‘American Anthem,’” Marine Band Director Lt. Col. Jason K. Fettig said. “This is a work t