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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, America's music commands boundless artistic
3 reflections of this country's past and future legacies; and
 
4     WHEREAS, America's music transcends culture, gender, race,
5 class, and creed, and thrives freely as it is continually
6 reinvented, rearranged, transformed, and infused by a universe
7 of memories and imaginations; it draws on the personal
8 experiences of men and women and aspires to approximate the
9 complexities of humanity in all degrees of inelegance and
10 beauty; and
 
11     WHEREAS, America's music expresses our country's vital
12 cultural and social identities and empowers us to assert and
13 preserve our past for the future; it transforms our wondrous
14 and harsh experiences into potent messages that freely declare
15 democratic choice and freedom of expression; it inspires social
16 justice, enlivens collective action, and reflects our nation's
17 dynamic social movements; and
 
18     WHEREAS, John Philip Sousa's music embodies the unflagging
19 spirit of this nation; his music, a product of a renaissance in
20 American art and technology, affirmed our parents' contagious
21 patriotism and profound love of country even as they witnessed
22 the brutalities of a nation at war; his music was a fanfare
23 about and for all men and women of these United States; his
24 rousing melodies celebrated the best and worst of our diverse
25 cultures and emerging histories; Sousa's music, both now and
26 then, entertained and telegraphed our nation's indomitable
27 sense of spirit to the world; and
 
28     WHEREAS, John Philip Sousa performed over 275 concerts in
29 this great State; his band spread the wealth of his music and a
30 nation's spirit from the humble banks of Illinois' Wabash to
31 its mighty Mississippi, and from Chicago's Great Lake to the

 

 

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1 Ohio's "La Belle Riviere"; his profound devotion to America
2 moved him in May of 1917, at the age of 62, to enlist in the
3 United States Navy and serve as the coordinator of the music
4 program at Chicago's Great Lakes Naval Training Center; as one
5 of Illinois' most celebrated residents, Sousa championed music
6 education throughout the State as well as the nation; and
 
7     WHEREAS, John Philip Sousa and his band served as the model
8 for the University of Illinois' innovative band program; the
9 university's vital band program eventually established the
10 standard for all college and university bands throughout the
11 United States; Sousa was named "Honorary Conductor" of the
12 University's Concert Band on March 20, 1930, and upon his death
13 in 1932, he bequeathed to the University his band's entire
14 performance library; he believed his music and legacy could be
15 preserved only through active performance by a band and its
16 director as capable as his own ensemble; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Today the State of Illinois and the University of
18 Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are home to the single greatest
19 collection of original music compositions and arrangements by
20 John Philip Sousa; the university is also the residence of one
21 of this country's most recognized university bands and music
22 programs and the largest public university library in the
23 world; therefore, be it
 
24     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
25 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
26 declare the month of November American Music Month to celebrate
27 both John Philip Sousa's birth on November 6, 1854, and his
28 monumental contributions to America's and the State of
29 Illinois' music heritage; and be it further
 
30     RESOLVED, That all forms of America's music will be
31 honored, celebrated, and preserved for future generations as
32 expressions of the democratic freedoms that John Philip Sousa

 

 

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1 so eloquently embodied through his music, and his music remains
2 a hallmark of this nation's indomitable spirit; and be it
3 further
 
4     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
5 presented to the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
6 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a memento
7 of the celebration of this month.