Of mixed Portuguese and Bavarian origin, Sousa was born in Washington, D.C. and made his career as a musician, joining his father as a bandsman in the Marines. His subsequent career brought involvement with the theatre, but he is best remembered as one of the most successful of all march composers.

Stage Works and Songs
Sousa’s earlier career, after leaving the Marines in 1874, was as a conductor of theatre orchestras. He wrote a number of operettas, incidental music and songs of popular appeal.

Instrumental Music
Sousa spent a dozen years, from 1880 to 1892, as conductor of the U.S. Marine Band. Thereafter he directed his own ensemble, Sousa’s Band, with which he won overwhelming popularity at home and abroad. His marches remain generally familiar, often providing the framework for imaginative texts supplied by members of the armed forces both in America and elsewhere.