Marine Corps Band Plays Foley Square

STOP MOTION: A scene from ‘Coraline,’ which depicts a child that travels between two worlds. (Laika/Focus Features)

NEW YORK—A crowd gathered in Foley Square on Monday as the Marine Corps played a free concert and filled the air with patriotic tunes.

The band warmed up in front of the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse, then proceeded to Foley Square. As the band began to play, the crowd began to thicken.

Chief Warrant Officer Robert Szabo who is also the director and officer in charge of Quantico Marine Corps Band elegantly led the band through each song. Szabo said he loves doing his job.

“Playing for crowds, playing for the public, and giving back what the public has given to us. And they support us, so we want to support them,” said Szabo.

The Quantico Marine Corps Band was established in 1918 and consists of combat-trained active-duty marines selected to perform as musical ambassadors.

The Quantico band is not inexperienced. When asked how many times they’ve performed, Chief Warrant Officer Szabo said, “Annually 360 performances a year. Today we only did one, but some days we do two or three shows a day, and we have to space it out because obviously we have to have days here and there where we can practice.”

The Dixie Lane Band, which smaller band made up of members of the Quantico band, came out and got the crowd clapping with their rendition of “Oh When the Saints Go Marching In.”

Spectators like Linda Williams, 50, could relate as she watched the performance.

“I used to play in the band in junior high school, I played the flute and a lot of the songs that they’re playing we had to learn for assemblies, and special programs, graduations, so it brings back a lot of memories. Plus my parents served in the military, they were in the navy, my mother and father, and it just brings back a lot of my training from my youth. It’s really inspiring.”

The Quantico band’s past performances include the Super Bowl XLI Pregame Show, 9/11 Memorials at Carnegie Hall and the Town Arts Theatre, Times Square, the Macy’s Thanksgiving and Columbus Day Parades in New York City, and many more.

The band played the songs, “Army of the Nile,” “The Crosley March,” “God Bless America,” “The Trooper Salute,” “This is My Country,” “Stars Stripes Forever,” and “The Armed Forces Medley.”