By Emily Miller
REXBURG — For the first time since 1985, The President’s Own United States Marine Band will make a stop in Rexburg during their 2024 Coast-to-Coast Tour, this Wednesday, October 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Brigham Young University-Idaho I-Center. Other Idaho stops include Pocatello on Thursday, October 24, and Boise on Friday, October 25. The Pocatello and Boise shows are both fully reserved, but there will be a standby line.
Rexburg boasts the largest venue of the entire tour, with capacity for a crowd of 15,000, and tickets are still available. Free tickets can be reserved here.
Lt. Col. Ryan Nowlin is the 29th director of the band, which traces its history all the way back to 1798 when it was formed as an Act of Congress under President John Adams. It is the longest-running, continuously active professional music organization in America, having played for every President since Adams.
The Coast-to-Coast Tour takes the band across the country on a 30-day, 28-concert tour, also performing in Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon, Utah, Washington and West Virginia.
“There are so many just incredible audiences, and so many different people and towns and cities and communities, and each one is special and different,” Nowlin says. He says there are three different programs, and each city’s performance is unique.
According to a news release from the band, Nowlin has programmed musical selections in the style of the band’s renowned 17th director, John Philip Sousa, who initiated the concert tour tradition in 1891. Concertgoers can expect a mix of works including traditional band repertoire, Sousa marches, contemporary compositions, vocal and instrumental solos and a patriotic salute to the Armed Forces.
Nowlin says one of the highlights is “Jupiter” by Gustav Holst.
“Holst would be 150 this year, and this is one of his most familiar works,” Nowlin says. “It showcases the vitality of the band. You have to hear this horn section to believe it.”
The performance will also honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of film composer Henry Mancini, who created such memorable pieces as “The Pink Panther Theme,” “Love Theme from ‘Romeo and Juliet,’” “The Godfather Waltz,” and “Moon River,” to name just a few.
“We have a tenor sax soloist who specializes in jazz, so we’ve done some new arrangements of Mancini tunes,” Nowlin says.
Nowlin is also excited to introduce the audience to a new soprano soloist, Staff Sergeant Hannah Davis.
“She’s really been able to take the audience through each of the programs and build a lasting connection with them,” Nowlin says. He says Davis is “virtuosic in nature,” and can sing across the music spectrum, from French arias from Charles Gounod’s opera, “Romeo and Juliet,” to famous jazz pieces from Ella Fitzgerald.
“And you get to hear it in Rexburg,” Nowlin says. “She’s really sensational.”
Nowlin was a high school and college band teacher in Ohio for 10 years before joining the United States Marine Band as a staff arranger 15 years ago. He became the director of the band in December 2023. Nowlin’s bio can be found here.
Nowlin says the Marine Band’s purpose is to serve and connect all Americans.
“We are a service organization, which serves all of the American people,” Nowlin says. From American citizens to members of the Marine Corps, military veterans and U.S. presidents, the Marine band plays a role in everyone’s lives, he says.
“It’s about connection with country and connection with the arts, and that stewardship is not lost on me,” Nowlin says. “At the White House or at a concert in Rexburg, Idaho, we have a unique opportunity to make people feel and to care and to connect with people and their country, and that is quite a calling. We have been doing it for 226 years. That history is something you can’t hear anywhere else. Our ensemble is unbroken.”
Nowlin extends a special invitation to military members, veterans and their families.
“One feature is the way we recognize those who have served,” he says. “It is my favorite part of every program. It is a constant reminder of what connects and unites everyone in this country.”
