One of the most iconic composers associated with America and the Fourth of July is John Philip Sousa. The Ames Municipal Band showcased Sousa in their concert on Thursday, July 4 in Bandshell Park.

The Ames Choral Society provided the pre-concert entertainment at 7:30 p.m., and the band began playing at 8 p.m. The band was directed by Dr. Michael Golemo of Iowa State University.

John Philip Sousa IV, the great-grandson of the famous composer, gave some history about him and narrated the concert. Sousa narrates at Sousa and Patriotic concerts around the country and it wasn’t very difficult for Golemo to convince him to come to Ames.

“I did a concert at [Iowa] State about seven years ago with Mike, so Mike and I have known each other for a long time” Sousa said. “I ran into Mike at the Midwest Conference, which is a big band conference, in Chicago last December and he said, ‘What are you doing the Fourth of July next year?’ and I said, ‘Well, right now, nothing,’ and he said ‘Okay, let’s see if we can get you to Ames.’ So, here I am.”

Golemo said the band only practiced the music for the July 4 concert for six hours. The choir and the band rehearsed together the evening of July 2.

“We do a concert every Thursday night at 8 p.m. We do a one-hour concert and we get one, two-hour rehearsal before every one of those concerts,” Golemo said. “So it’s a lot of putting music together very quickly.

“I think we have 64 members. It’s a set instrumentation and part of that’s due to the size of the stage and part of it is what we want for our balance and things.”

Some of Sousa’s songs the band played included “The Liberty Bell March,” “I’ve Made My Plans For the Summer,” “El Capitan March,” “With Pleasure,” and “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” They also played songs by Francis Scott Key, Ferdinand Herold, Victor Herbert, Frank Ticheli, George Gershwin, Samuel Ward and an arrangement by Bob Lowden.

Mary Creswell, associate professor of music and theatre at Iowa State University, sang along with the band to “I’ve Made My Plans For the Summer” and “Kiss Me Again.” The Ames Choral Society accompanied the band for five of the songs including “The Star Spangled Banner” and “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”

The park was filled with people of all ages. Kids were dancing, pretending to conduct the music or playing on the playground equipment as their parents relaxed in lawn chairs or on blankets. Some people were having picnics while others took advantage of the Vienna hotdog stand.