Commissioned by the American Bandmasters Association in 1937, Lincolnshire Posy was premiered at their convention with Percy Grainger himself conducting. It is in six movements, all based on folk songs from Lincolnshire, England. Grainger's settings are not only true to the verse structure of the folk songs, but attempt to depict the singers from whom Grainger collected the songs. Since its premiere, it has been recognized as a cornerstone of the wind band repertoire.

Typically, we like to begin with why at "Pershing's Own"—but we also believe there is a time and place to allow the music and history to speak first for themselves. Now that we've given those elements a voice, here are the reasons behind the start of this new series of free educational content developed specifically for you by The United States Army Band "Pershing's Own." 

Intent: 

• Create high-quality, live videos of The U.S. Army Concert Band performing large-scale wind ensemble works.
• Extract challenging instrumental excerpts from each selection and create educational video content of principal players demonstrating accurate performance practice while sharing valuable discussion points.
• Develop coordinated curricula to engage Elementary and Middle school classrooms with active listening activities and thinking exercises based on the full band video recording.
• Offer multiple iterations of this package concept throughout the year, building a library of resources specific to wind band literature and accessible across multiple age groups. 

Purpose: 

• Establish an audio-visual legacy of the expertise and quality exhibited by The U.S. Army Concert Band.
• Create a clear guide for achieving what "right" sounds like when preparing audition excerpts.
• Develop supplemental educational resources applicable across all age groups.
• Encourage engagement between general music students and wind ensemble repertoire.
• Provide equal availability of trusted preparatory materials, regardless of access to music education and private instruction.

We intend to do more "Band Together" series projects like this one, so we hope to hear your feedback on how we did with our inaugural run and what you'd like to see included in the next iteration!