At our July 25, 2004, concert, conductor Mark Eveleth led the band in FIVE Sousa marches -- The Washington Post March, Hands Across The Sea, El Capitan, The Thunderer, and The Stars and Stripes Forever. It is worth noting that all of the Sousa marches performed (with the exception of The Stars and Stripes Forever) were recent arrangements done by Keith Brion and Loras Schissel. Brion and Schissel are today's foremost Sousa experts, and Schissel has the additional "claim to fame" of being Mark Eveleth's college roomate. They have done extensive research on the actual performance practices of Sousa's band. As Sousa's band toured and performed he often modified his music: frequently, for example, he would have some instruments drop out during a strain of a march and resume playing during the repeat of that strain. These changes were learned by Sousa's musicians, but were often not written down. Brion and Schissel have interviewed surviving musicians who had played under Sousa and their march arrangements reflect these findings.
