The United States Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus is set to march back to Chautauqua for the 37th time for the last day of the summer season at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the Amphitheater, closing out the season with beloved patriotic repertoire.
Since the Field Band’s formation in 1946, and the Soldiers’ Chorus in 1957, the group has appeared in all 50 states and in more than 30 countries. The Field Band has participated in numerous presidential inaugural parades and supported many diplomatic missions overseas — but they’ve also played the Berliner Philharmonie and Carnegie Hall, as well as state fairgrounds and high school gymnasiums.
Regularly traveling with the Soldiers’ Chorus, the band presents a powerful and diverse program of marches, overtures, popular music, patriotic selections and instrumental and vocal solos.
Known as the U.S. Army’s “musical ambassadors,” the most important resource the band provides is a bridge between its audience and the armed forces.
“We are all soldiers, and we represent all of the soldiers in the military who are doing hard jobs all around the world on our behalf so that we can live in freedom and have the right to enjoy concerts like the one we are going to play,” saxophonist Brian Sacawa told the Daily in 2018. “It is so very important for us to be using these opportunities to honor our veterans, so that they know — and audiences know — that their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
