Make Music Day is celebrated around the world every year on June 21, the summer solstice. The longest day of the year is marked with free community music-making. This year, a special band concert took place at Ball and Socket Arts in Cheshire, Connecticut.
It was a humid evening, where more than 30 musicians, of every skill level, were gathered outside in rows of folding chairs to perform some of the most recognizable American marches.
“Oh, it's Sousa. We love Sousa music, so definitely we were coming . . . it was easy to say, ‘Ooh, Sousapalooza, let's go!’” Larry, an audience member, said.
“I love the music. I think they're doing a great job for just really being together for the first time,” Roxsolana, next to him, added.
Larry and Roxsolana came out to Sousapalooza — an event dedicated to the music of John Phillip Sousa.
It’s part of Make Music Day, an international musical holiday where music is everywhere. Everyone is encouraged to sing, play an instrument, or host musicians in their community. It started 44 years ago in France. New York hosted the first gatherings on this side of the Atlantic. Now, people in cities and towns across the United States come out to thousands of performances and participatory music events each year.
Ball and Socket Arts, a Cheshire-based nonprofit housed at an old button factory, has hosted Make Music Day events in the past. This year, their director of programming, Lydia Blaisdell, wanted it to be even bigger.
“I just want it to be like a really joyful space for folks who play every weekend to have a fun time with their friends, but also for someone who hasn't picked up their trumpet in a couple years to maybe come back to it a little bit,” Blaisdell said.
Blaisdell saw Sousapalooza events organized elsewhere in the country in past years, and they caught her interest. She saw that it was a chance to collaborate with other organizations in the community.
“I'd always looked at and always been excited about it, and, we're across the street from this great music school, West Main Music Academy, and so I talked to them and talked to the library, and was like, should we do it? Is it Sousa? Is this the year for Sousapalooza?” Blaisdell exclaimed.
It was the year. With America 250, the time was right to bring Sousa’s patriotic marches to Cheshire.
If you were in a high school marching band or have attended a Fourth of July concert, you’ve likely heard a Sousa march.
Probably his most famous is Stars and Stripes Forever. Sousa led the United States Marine Band to prominence, earning the nickname the “American March King.” After that, he organized his own group, The Sousa Band. Starting in 1892, they toured across the country and abroad. They gave more than 15,000 shows over almost 40 years. The band would roll in on the train and perform for sometimes tens of thousands of fans.
Between concerts and people listening at home on new technology called wax cylinders, you could hear Sousa marches everywhere. They helped define American music.
Sousa’s name is also attached to an instrument he invented, the sousaphone. Related to the tuba, it wraps around the player with a large bell that extends up and over the band.
Two sousaphones were part of the band for Sousapalooza in Cheshire.
“It's this deep, rich sound that really drives the rhythm of the entire band, I would argue,” John, one of the sousaphone players, said.
“But sounds great. It's very loud, you get the . . . it's really pulling everyone together. Everyone's playing off us . . . sounds great!” Max, his friend, said.
John and Max are two friends who came to Sousapalooza with sousaphones from their college marching band. What brought college students on summer break out on a hot night to play in their home town?
“Well, our former band director, John Kuhner, was in it, so of course, like all our friends are sending us the news that Sousapalooza is going on, and we figured we'd just pop in and play,” John said.
When John and Max were starting their junior year of high school, their band director John Kuhner suffered a stroke in August, at the beginning of the marching band season.
“I would still be doing what I was doing, but unfortunately I had a massive stroke back in 2022 . . . It affected my speech, my balance . . . [I was] paralyzed on the side completely,” Kuhner said.
After his initial stroke, Kuhner had five more strokes. He retired from his 22 year teaching career to focus on recovery. He got support from his wife, family, and friends. But through the recovery, Kuhner didn’t know if he would conduct again.
That’s where marching band fanatic and Sousapalooza organizer Jim Mingo comes in. His daughter was starting her senior year of high school as the drum major leading the marching band when Kuhner was hospitalized. Mingo jumped at the chance to get Kuhner back on the podium.
“I don't think you even hesitated.” Mingo said.
“Nope, I was like, I think I can do this. I looked over at my wife, I said, I think I can do this.” Kuhner replied.
That call from Mingo was a few months ago. Flash forward to the evening of June 21; what did it mean to Kuhner to be minutes away from conducting his first concert since his stroke?
“This just brought me back, because I thought it was just giving it up,” Kuhner said. “Yeah, it was done for me completely, but I appreciate this opportunity, because I think at some point I'll be able to do more in the future.”
And what about the students, the ones who didn’t get to finish their high school band careers with him?
“It's really great to be playing with Mr. Kuhner again. It's been a while,” John, one of the sousaphone players, said.
“I feel like it was something we had to do. You know, it's the first time he's conducted in a long time. Yeah, it's unfinished business. I think I'm back here to play just one more time for him,” Max, his friend, added.
Max, John, and Mr. Kuhner’s other students who came out to Sousapalooza were drawn by the love of music and the shared experience of playing in band together, like fans coming out one hundred years ago when Sousa and his band came to town. This is community music making at its best.
Keep an eye out for concerts in your area this summer, especially for America 250, where you might just be able to tap along to Sousa marches.
Discover concerts and events on the WSHU Community Calendar.
Audio features the musicians at Sousapalooza at Ball and Socket Arts in Cheshire, CT on June 21, 2026 performing The Thunderer and The Washington Post March by John Philip Sousa.
Audio of John Philip Sousa conducting the Stars and Stripes Forever March performed by Sousa's Grand Concert Band, originally recorded on wax cylinder, is from the University of California Santa Barbara Cylinder Audio Archive.
