The U.S. Marine Band canceled an upcoming concert with high school musicians of color, citing a Trump executive order. [View all]

[Celerity]

The canceled collaboration with Equity Arc was to feature high school musicians of color who competed for spots to perform with the U.S. Marine Band.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2025/02/26/presidents-own-marine-band-cancels-concert/

https://archive.ph/7JOYS



There is perhaps no band closer to the president’s ear than the U.S. Marine Band, long known as “The President’s Own.” Founded in 1798 by an Act of Congress, it’s the nation’s oldest continuously active professional musical organization, with a stated, singular mission to “perform music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps.”

The band’s repertoire, therefore, is subject to the president’s tastes, whims and, in the case of a May 4 concert that recently vanished from the schedule, executive orders. Last week, “The President’s Own” quietly canceled a concert program originally billed as the “Equity Arc Wind Symphony.”

The performance was to be the culmination of a “multi-day music intensive with musicians from ‘The President’s Own’” and high school musician fellows selected through auditions organized by the Chicago-based Equity Arc, a nonprofit organization that provides “specialized mentoring support for young BIPOC musicians and helps institutions take meaningful steps toward equity and inclusion.”

A spokesperson for the Marines confirmed in an email Tuesday afternoon that “the Marine Band’s participation in this event was canceled in accordance with recent Executive Orders.”

snip