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Contact:
Tom Davis
Troy Office of University Relations
334/670-3196
tomdavis@troy.edu
Office of University Relations
253 Adams Administration
Troy, AL 36082
(334) 670-3196
(334) 670-3274 (fax)
| Former Marine Corps band director to be inducted into Hall of Fame at TSU |
| John
R. Bourgeois, who directed "The President’s Own" United
States Marine Band for 17 years, will be inducted into the National
Band Association Hall of Fame of Distinguished Band Conductors
in a ceremony on the Troy State University campus Saturday, Feb.
3. The induction ceremony will begin at noon in TSU’s Hawkins-Adams-Long Hall of Honor, home of the National Band Association Hall of Fame, the only national hall of fame located in Alabama. The hall’s 42-person membership list includes famed directors such as John Philip Sousa and Edwin F. Goldman, founder of the American Bandmasters Association. Dr. John Long, director of bands emeritus at TSU and chairman of the board of the hall of fame, said Col. Bourgeois’ induction is well deserved. "John Bourgeois was probably the most high-profile band director in the United States before he retired," said Dr. Long, who is also a member of the hall of fame. "He was the personal friend of several presidents." Bourgeois, a native of Louisiana and a graduate of Loyola University in New Orleans, joined the Marine Corps in 1956 and began in 1958 with "The President’s Own" as a French hornist and arranger. He was named director in 1979 and promoted to colonel in 1983. He retired in 1996. As director of "The President’s Own," Bourgeois served as music adviser to the White House. He regularly conducted the Marine Band and the Marine Chamber Orchestra at the White House, appearing there more frequently than any other musician in the nation. He also conducted the band at four presidential inaugurations. Under Bourgeois’ leadership the Marine Band presented its first overseas concert in history, traveling to the Netherlands in 1985. In 1990, Bourgeois led an historic 18-day concert tour of the former Soviet Union. Bourgeois is CEO and president of the John Philip Sousa Foundation, past president of the American Bandmasters Association, past president of the National Band Association and the American vice president of the International Military Music Society. Bourgeois currently serves as guest conductor-clinician and visiting professor at Loyola University in New Orleans and continues to produce wind band arrangements and editions for Wingert-Jones Music, Inc. in a series known as "The Bourgeois Editions." He has also written an historical chapter on the Marine Band in a history of the corps entitled "The Marines." To register or to obtain additional information, contact Joslin at (334) 670-3374 or call the TSU Department of Art and Design at (334) 670-3391. |