The U.S. Coast Guard Band will present a special program of patriotic music at 6:30 p.m. July 3 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

The concert is free to the public as an Independence Day gift to the community. However, tickets must be reserved in advance here, by calling 402-472-4747 or by visiting the Lied’s box office, 301 N. 12th St.

The U.S. Coast Guard Band is the premier band representing the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. The 55-member ensemble has performed at such prestigious venues as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. The band also has a rich history of performing internationally, including being the first American military band to perform in the former Soviet Union, with concerts in Leningrad and the surrounding area in 1989. In 2008, the band became the first premier American military band to perform a concert tour of Japan. Concerts include a broad range of music, from wind ensemble classics to swinging jazz numbers.

Based at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, the U.S. Coast Guard Band frequently appears in Washington, D.C., at presidential and cabinet level functions on formal and informal occasions. Historic events include National Christmas Tree lighting ceremonies, the American Bicentennial Celebration with President Gerald Ford, World War II 50th Anniversary events in England and inaugural celebrations for every president since Herbert Hoover. A number of notable vocal artists have appeared with the band, including Placido Domingo, Andy Williams, Roberta Flack, Lee Greenwood, Shirley Jones, Lonestar and the Boys Choir of Harlem. The band has also performed with such film, literary and television personalities as Gregory Peck, Lucie Arnaz, Willard Scott, Walter Cronkite, John Amos, Alex Haley and Richard Thomas.

The U.S. Coast Guard Band was organized in March 1925 with the assistance of Lt. Charles Benter, leader of the U.S. Navy Band; Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Philharmonic; and “American March King” John Philip Sousa, former director of the U.S. Marine Band. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed congressional legislation resulting in the U.S. Coast Guard Band becoming the permanent, official musical representative of the nation’s oldest continuous seagoing service.

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