Illinois Bands Sesquicentennial
Throwback Thursday
Throughout the 2018-2019 season, as part of our sesquicentennial celebration, the Illinois Bands will be bringing you a piece of its history each week.
Armenian Dances, Part I was completed in the summer of 1972 by Alfred Reed and first performed by Dr. Harry Begian, to whom the work is dedicated, and the University of Illinois Symphonic Band, on January 10, 1973, at the C.B.D.N.A. Convention in Urbana, Illinois.
Portrait of Harry Begian, director of the University of Illinois bands from 1970-84. Found in RS: 39/2/26, Box 5, Folder Begian, Harry. Sousa Archives and Center for American Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Harry Begian conducting the Marching Illini (Fall 1972). Harry Begian Papers, 1926-97. Sousa Archives and Center for American Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
University of Illinois Concert Band, Harry Begian, Conductor (1971). University Bands Collection, circa 1840-1997 (Box 40, Folder 3). Sousa Archives and Center for American Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Photos courtesy of the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music.