COAST GUARD BAND CONCERT WASHINGTON DC

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Aug. 1, 2006)--Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen gives brief remarks to the audience during the U.S. Coast Guard Band performance at the U.S. Navy Memorial. The concert celebrates the Coast Guard's 216th birthday on Aug. 4. The band formed in 1925 and currently consists of 45 musicians and a director. The musicians are accomplished artists with diverse backgrounds, most coming to the band from the nation's finest music schools. Some have performed with Hollywood movie bands, the New York Philharmonic, "name" dance bands and other notable music organizations prior to joining the Coast Guard Band. The band's wide and varied fare includes jazz, marches, big band favorites, show tunes, light classics, jazz, novelties and contemporaryworks. USCG photo by Telfair H. Brown, Sr.