The musical traditions of "The March King," John Philip Sousa, continue in Las Vegas on Sunday, July 12. The National Community Band, a project of the John Philip Sousa Foundation, will present a free concert at 3:30 p.m. in Artemus Ham Concert Hall on the UNLV Campus.

The 80-member concert band comprises adult amateur musicians from around the country and will be led by Colonel John R. Bourgeois, Director Emeritus of the United States Marine Band, "The President's Own" - based in Washington, D.C.

Col. Bourgeois was the 25th director of the Washington, D.C.-based United States Marine Band. His acclaimed career spanned nine presidential administrations -- from Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower to Bill Clinton. Bourgeois is a graduate of Loyola University in New Orleans. He joined the Marine Corps in 1956, entered "The President's Own" as a French horn player and arranger in 1958, and was named director of the Marine Band in 1979; he was promoted to colonel in June 1983. Bourgeois retired from active duty July 11, 1996.

According to Col. Bourgeois, "The concert will have music for everyone, from a von Suppe transcription to a John Philip Sousa suite, 'People Who Live In Glass Houses.' Along with great continental marches and marches of Sousa, there will be music from Broadway and special guest singer, songwriter Laura Taylor."

The John Philip Sousa Foundation is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to the promotion of international understanding through the medium of band music. Through the administration of band related-projects, the group seeks to uphold the standards and ideals of that icon of the American spirit, John Philip Sousa.