Coast Guard Band News
U.S. Coast Guard Band Summer Schedule
The Concert Band and the Beacons Jazz Nonet will be out and about in Connecticut and Massachusetts this summer. See the current schedule below and visit our main page calendar for specific event info.
May 29 - Fort Trumbull State Park, New London, CT Time TBD
June 10 - East Brookfield, MA 7:00PM
June 22 - Cheshire, CT 6:30PM
June 26 - Madison, CT 6:00PM
July 2 - Willimantic, CT 6:00PM
July 6 - Old Saybrook, CT 6:30PM
July 9 - New London, CT Sailfest 12:00PM
July 10 - Simsbury, CT 2:00PM
July 11 - New Britain, CT 7:00PM
July 13 - Middletown, CT 6:30PM
July 14 - Essex, CT 5:30PM
July 19 - Mystic, CT 7:00PM
July 22 - Stonington, CT 6:00PM
July 24 - Old Saybrook, CT 3:00PM
August 24 - Essex, CT 6:30PM
August 28 - Simsbury, CT 2:00PM
Guardians Big Band presents Ellington's "Far East Suite"
On Friday, April 29 at 7 p.m. at Leamy Concert Hall on the grounds of the historic U.S. Coast Guard Academy, The United States Coast Guard Band presents the Guardians Big Band performing Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s masterful Far East Suite. The Coast Guard Band is pleased to welcome live audiences back to Leamy Concert Hall for this performance. The concert will also be live- streamed free of charge at https://www.youtube.com/UnitedStatesCoastGuardBand/live
Adult guests visiting the Academy must provide a valid and current form of photo identification. Based on CDC guidance, all U.S. Coast Guard Band concert attendees eligible for COVID vaccination (age 5 and older) will need to show physical proof of vaccination. Vaccination cards, phone screen shots, MyCharts app displays, or other proof from medical providers are acceptable forms of verification. Masks are now optional indoors and outdoors as long as the local area remains in “Low” or “Medium” COVID-19 Community Level thresholds.
Conceived after the Ellington Band’s U.S. State Department-sponsored 1963 tour of Syria, Jordan, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, and Turkey, this nine-movement suite is a high point of the long collaboration between Ellington and Strayhorn. The Far East Suite was meant to convey the excitement and awe felt by the band when traveling to lands that were truly foreign-exotic and totally different from what most of them had experienced before. The concert closes with Chief Musician Sean Nelson’s arrangement of the Armed Forces Medley.
U.S. Coast Guard Band "Southern Connection" Tour
The United States Coast Guard Band performs in South Carolina and Florida as part of our 2022 National Concert Tour Southern Connections. Commander Adam Williamson leads an engaging program with works by Kevin Day, John Philip Sousa, and more. Dazzling soloists include Floridian MU1 Tim Bedard, as well as other outstanding instrumentalists from the band. Check our Band Tours page for more info!
The United States Coast Guard Band is the premier band representing the United States Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. The 55-member ensemble has performed at some of the most prestigious venues in the nation, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall.
Based at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, the Coast Guard Band frequently appears in Washington, DC 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 Fiftieth Anniversary events in England, and Inaugural celebrations for every President since Herbert Hoover.
