Storied United States Marine Band, which visited Spokane in 1892 with John Phillip Souza, returns for sold out concert

Band kids and music aficionados gathered at Ferris High School Sunday for a performance by the United States Marine Band, known as “The President’s Own.”

Ben Brueggemeier, the band director at Ferris for the last 28 years, said he is always trying to get special musical performances held at the school. “I keep an eye on when the Washington, D.C., military bands are touring,” he said. “Every few years they come through the area.”

When he heard the United States Marine Band would be coming through in 2024, he sent an email in mid-2023 asking them to put Spokane on the schedule. Brueggemeier said he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get them here.

“They’re regarded by most as the best concert band in the world,” he said.

Once the date was confirmed, Brueggemeier didn’t keep the news to himself. Not only did he notify every band director in Spokane County, he also sent the concert poster to the University of Idaho and Washington State University.

Tickets to the event were free, but people needed to sign up for them online in advance. “The tickets were gone in five days,” he said.

The 900 seats in the auditorium named after Brueggemeier’s father, Paul G. Brueggemeier, the longtime choral director at Ferris, were full and people stood along the back wall as the concert began. Brueggemeier said he hoped the concert would be an inspiration to all the band students in attendance. “We’re going to see artistic magic at a higher scale,” he said.

The band debuted at the White House in 1801 and has performed at every presidential inauguration since Thomas Jefferson. The stop at Ferris High School was the 16th time the United States Marine Band, the country’s oldest continuously active professional musical organization, has been in Spokane. The first visit was in 1892, when famed director John Phillip Souza was still leading the group. Souza also appeared in Spokane at Lewis and Clark High School in 1923.

The audience responded enthusiastically to every song performed under the direction of Lt. Col. Ryan Nowlin. Some were written by Souza himself and others were penned by musicians such as Florence Price, Henry Mancini and Gustav Holst. The notes were crisp and clear and the drums sometimes dropped to the merest whisper and at other times thundered loud enough to rival the fiercest thunderstorm.

Clarinet player Kaley Anderson, who is studying music at the University of Idaho, not only listened intently but watched how the musicians moved in unison. “It’s absolutely spectacular on so many levels, incredible perfection,” she said. “The hours everyone must have put into their craft, studying the fundamentals.”

Anderson, who graduated from Mt. Spokane High School in 2022, wants to become a high school music teacher after she earns her degree. She, like many other band students, have watched and listened to recordings of performances by the United State Marine Band for inspiration. Nothing, however, can compare to listening to them in person, she said.

“The recordings don’t capture it,” she said.

Anderson said the drive from Moscow, Idaho, was worth it to hear the band perform. Once she heard they were coming, she couldn’t not attend, Anderson said. “This will probably be one of the most important concerts I’ve been to, learning wise,” she said. “This is the level every band wants to achieve some day.”