Like the Tyrannosaurus rex and Crocodilian Steneosaurus which roamed the earth over 65 million years ago, many exotic music instruments that were created by ingenious inventors ranged the world’s concert stages during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, the strangeness of such mechanical wonders as the sarrusophone and rothophone, much like the fossilized bones of pre-historic creatures, continue to intrigue and amaze us. We cannot deny that these two instrument families had a life and musical purpose. However, their evolution over time followed a similar Darwinian fate as the dinosaur experienced millions of years before, because the sarrusophone and rothophone were unable to meet the evolving needs of the music profession. This new exhibition examines the legacy of these two exotic instruments from the woodwind family, Adolph Sax’ patent infringement lawsuit against Pierre-Louis Gautrot, and their use by A. Austin Harding’s University of Illinois concert bands during the 1920s.
News Archive
2024
January
February
- The Modern Trombone and its Performers with Douglas Yeo
- Sousa Archives New Online Saxophone Exhibit Opens Today
- New Exhibit Opens Today Celebrating Black History Month
March
April
- Music Mondays Continues with Percy Grainger
- Ellington Lives! CU International Jazz Day Concert on Sunday
- Dan Fogelberg’s 1973 Martin Guitar on Temporary Exhibit
- Sousa Archives Music Mondays Kicks Off Today
May
- Ellington Lives! Concert Video Goes Live Today
- Foto Fridays Begin Today
- Troy Middle School Band Tour Today
June
July
- Illinois Summer Youth Music Camp Visits This Week
- Images from the Hall Macklin Orchestra Records
- July 4th Holiday Closure
August
September
October
2023
January
February
March
- International Jazz Day in Champaign-Urbana to Spotlight Trumpet Greats
- International Jazz Day in Champaign-Urbana to Spotlight Trumpet Greats
- International Jazz Day in Champaign-Urbana to Spotlight Trumpet Greats
- Sousa Archives Celebrates International Jazz Day 2023
April
- Closing Out International Jazz Day Celebration 2023
- Celebrating International Jazz Day Sunday
- Celebrating International Jazz Day on Sunday
May
July
August
September
October
- New Exhibit Opens at the Sousa Archives
- Illini Cabaret: Music on Main
- 2023 Folk and Roots Festival Starts Today
- Special Clinic with the Eddie Barbash and KASA Jazz Quartets
- 2023 Folk and Roots Festival Kicks Off October 12
November
- Sousa Archives Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
- Mysterious New Acquisition of Sousa Band Train Crash Photos
- Celebrating WWI Veterans on Veterans Day 2023
- Celebrate Sousa's Birthday Today
- New Exhibit Opens at the Sousa Archives
December
2022
January
February
March
- A Musical Tour of the Imperfect Saxophone Exhibit
- New American Bandmasters Association Exhibit Opens Monday
April
- Music of the 505th Air Force Band of the Midwest
- International Jazz Day Celebration
- Sousa Archives Celebrates International Jazz Day
May
July
- Barbara Blaford's Cornet and Papers Newly Acquired
- Passing of James Keene -- Illinois' Fourth Band Director
August
September
- Salvatore Martirano’s Marvelous Music-Composing Machine In Concert October 4, 2022
- One Community Together through Music Returns October 1, 2022
October
- Folk and Roots Festival Kicks Off October 20
- Special Performance of Center's Restored Contra-bass Sarrusophones
- KASA and Eddie Barbash Quartets Performing for Folk & Roots Festival 2022
- Live Performance of the Sal-Mar Construction on Tuesday
November
- Sousa Archives Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
- Celebrating Veterans Day Through Music
- Celebrate Sousa's Birthday
December
2021
January
February
- Peter Michalove Music and Papers Fully Processed
- Center Acquires the Bruce Vermazen Papers and Research Files on Tom Brown
March
- Singing the Temperance Blues Exhibit Opens Today
- Walkin’ through Champaign-Urbana’s Music Scene with Nick Rudd Presentation
May
- Celebrating America's Roaring 1920s and Prohibition
- Frank Skinner Movie Scores and Audio Recordings Rediscovered
June
- Altgeld Chimes Joins Worldwide Ellacombe Chimes Bicentennial Celebration
- Preserving Altgeld Hall’s Music Legacy
July
August
September
October
November
- Celebrating America's Theater Legacy through the Yolande Oglesby Collection
- Honoring Illinois' Veterans and Military Band Directors
- Happy Birthday John Philip Sousa
December
2020
January
July
- Sousa Archives Acquires the Tim Barnes Doctoral Research Files on Eddie Alkire
- Sousa Archives Now Open for Research and Tours -- By Appointment Only
August
- 2020 Virtual Sweetcorn Festival Recap--First Show
- 2020 Virtual Sweetcorn Festival Kicks Off Saturday
- Virtual 2020 Sweetcorn Festival August 22, 2020
September
- Sousa Archives Acquires the Carl Landrum Historical Bands Collection
- 2020 One Community Together Recap -- Show Number 5
- Meet One of the Center's Graduate Assistants -- Nolan Vallier
- 2020 One Community Together Recap -- Shows 3 & 4
- Willie T. Summerville and Summerville Family Papers Now Fully Processed
- 2020 One Community Together Programming Recap -- Show Number 2
October
- 2020 One Community Together Recap - Show Number 9
- Virtual Folk & Roots Festival Starts Today
- Sousa Archives Sponsors October 23-24, 2020 Virtual Folk & Roots Festival
- 2020 One Community Together Recap -- Show Number 7
- Meet Sousa Archives' Newest Student Staff Member
- 2020 One Community Together Recap -- Show Number 6
November
- Sousa Archives Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
- Celebrating America's Veterans Today and Tomorrow
- Celebrating John Philip Sousa's Birthday
December
2019
January
- Sousa Archives Sponsors Premier of Historic 1930 "Borderline" Silent Movie with Live Orchestra Performance
- Sousa's Pewter Ship Decanter Restored
February
- Renée Baker and the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project Visits Campus for Black History Month
- Beautiful Music around Us: Exploring America’s Evolving Artistic Dialogues of Race and Identity with Renée Baker and the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project Ensemble
March
April
- International Jazz Day Film Festival and Performance
- Contemporary Conversation on the Role of Museums at the University of Illinois
May
July
- New Prohibition Exhibit Opens Today
- Sousa Archives’ One Community Together Programming for Sweetcorn Festival 2019
October
November
- Sousa Archives Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
- Mementos from the Women’s Symphony Orchestra of Chicago Opens Today
- New Addition to the Sousa Archives' Collections
December
- Sousa Archives Closed December 24, 2019 - January 1, 2020
- Sousa Archives Acquires Letritia Kandle's Small Letar
2018
January
- Urbana-Champaign Local Music Oral History with Rose Marshack and Rick Valentin About the Poster Children Band
- John Philip Sousa's "University of Illinois March" December Podcast
February
March
- Film Screening and Discussion with Anthony Brown about the Documentary "Don't Lose Your Soul: The Music of Anthony Brown and Mark Izu"
- Urbana-Champaign Local Music Oral History with Donnie Heitler
- Sousa Archives Celebrates International Jazz Day On April 24, 2018
- University of Wisconsin Russian Folk Orchestra In Concert
April
- The David Blakely Family-John Philip Sousa Saga
- From Russia with Love Concert on April 22nd and Jazz Film Festival on April 24
- John Philip Sousa's Women Soloists March Podcast
- More Exciting April Music Programming from the Sousa Archives
July
August
- Sousa Archives' One Community Together Programming for Sweetcorn Festival 2018
- Celebrating Lincoln and America's Legacy of the Wide Awakes Movement
September
October
- Samuel S. Stewart and America's Banjo Exhibit
- Banjos, Banjos, Banjos -- Stephen Wade Kicks Off American Music Month
- Sousa Archives 2018 American Music Month Celebration Kicks Off Early in October
November
- John Philip Sousa – America’s Legacy through his Music Exhibit December 19-21, 2018
- Sousa Archives Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
- American Music Month Celebration Continues with Renée Baker
- Harry Partch Exhibit Opens at University Library Marshall Gallery
December
2017
January
March
- Trumpets Unleashed for C-U International Jazz Day Celebration April 25th
- 2017 International Jazz Day Celebration with Historic Films, Live Jazz, and Much More
- Etherphonic Theremin Orchestra Performance on March 4th
May
June
- Barbara Anderson Papers and Sousa U.S. Stamp Collection New Addition to Sousa Archives Holdings
- Arnold Lamont Chick Sousa Band 1919-1929 Photographs and Papers Added to the Sousa Archives Collections
July
August
- 2017 Sweetcorn Festival “One Community Together” Programming Kicks off August 26th
- Sousa and Tsar Nicholas II’s Birthday: An Unexpected Tour Adventure Exhibit Opens Today
September
October
- Illinois' Anti-Establishment Soundscapes Exhibit Opens Today
- “From Russia with Love:” John Garvey’s Russian Folk Orchestra Exhibition Opens Today
November
- Sousa Archives Closed for 2017 Thanksgiving Holiday
- American Music Month Continues on Friday with "Mandel-Fieldsteel-Wahls: Retrogression and Evolution" Concert
- Saturday's Champaign-Urbana Folk and Roots Festival For All Ages Family Programming
- Sousa Archives American Music Month 2017 Celebration Kicks Off Today
December
- Sousa Archives Closed December 23, 2017 - January 1, 2018
- John Philip Sousa's Love of American Baseball November Podcast
2016
January
- Sousa Archives Receives New Addition to the Association of Concert Bands Records
- Sousa Archives Closed Friday and Monday
- Sousa Archives Acquires the Records of the 505th Air Force Band of the Midwest
February
- Copland, Stravinsky, and Hindemith Transcription Discs from 1950-1951 Transferred to the Sousa Archives
- Mattoon Middle School 6th Grade Class Visits the Sousa Archives and Flat Sousa Today
March
April
- University's Illinois Wind Orchestra Performs Concert on May 3
- Sousa Archives Celebrations International Jazz Day
- James L. Benefiel Papers and Music Instruments Added to Sousa Archives Collections
May
July
- Sousa Archives' "Stage Center Slides!" Exhibit Opens Today!
- Sousa Archives Completes the Archival Processing of the 505th Air Force Band of the Midwest Records
August
September
- New Sousa Archives Trombone Exhibit Opens Today
- Urbana-Champaign Local Music Oral History with James Michael Powers
October
- New Henry Fillmore Exhibit Opens Today to Kick Off American Music Month 2016
- American Music Month 2016 Kicks Off on November 1st
November
- Chasing the Metamorphic Music and Life of Henry Fillmore Lecture and Concert December 2nd and 3rd
- Sousa Archives Closed for 2016 Thanksgiving Holiday
- Historic 1927 Photograph of Marching Illini on Roller Skates Donated to the Sousa Archives
- Richard E. Brooks: 50 Years of Fine Arts Photography Exhibition Opens Today
- Doug Yeo Lecture, Masterclass, and Performance with Marching Illini For American Music Month 2016
December
- Sousa Archives Will Be Closed December 23 to January 2
- December 3rd Concert Honors the Life and Music of Henry Fillmore and His Canine Friend, Mike
2015
January
- Sousa Archives Acquires James W. Beauchamp's Harmonic Tone Generator
- Sousa Archives Opens 2015 with the Sights and Sounds of its Newly Restored Deagan 4728 Marimba-Xylophone
February
March
April
- Sousa Archives Celebrates International Jazz Day on April 28th
- 10th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment Band Visits Sousa Archives Over the Weekend
- New Recording Made from the Center's Humboldt Brass Band Music Books
- New Temporary Exhibit Opens at Sousa Archives for Boneyard Arts Festival
May
- Sousa Archives' Civil War Horns Played for the Lincoln Funeral Recreation Events held in Springfield, Illinois
- Richard Cogdal Describes A. Austin Harding and his University Band’s Experiences between 1935 and 1940
- Richard Cogdal Describes A. Austin Harding and his University Band's Experiences between 1935 and 1940
June
- Sousa Archives' New Harry Partch Exhibit Opens Today
- Sousa Archives Staff and Flat Sousa Say Goodbye to Zak, Emily, and Rory
August
- 2015 Sweet Corn Festival "One Community Together" Programming August 28-29
- Sousa Archives Staff & Local Music Preservation Colleagues Attend 2015 Society of American Archivists Meeting
- Sousa Archives Closed August 21, 2015
September
- Pierre-Louis Gautrot’s Sarrusophone: A Maverick of the Woodwind Family Exhibition Opens Today at the Sousa Archives
- Sousa Archives' New Exhibit of the Harmonic Tone Generator Opens Today
October
November
- Lawrence Gushee Papers Finding Aid Project Completed
- Sousa Archives Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
- Champaign Central High School Marching Band Visits the Sousa Archives Today
- Honoring America’s Regimental Band Legacy at the University of Illinois with the Marching Illini on Saturday during the Illinois-Ohio State Football Game Halftime Show
- Special Lecture at Noon Today at the Sousa Archives by Chris Rainier on the Use of the Guitar in the Works of Harry Partch
- Harmonic Tone Generator Lecture at Noon Today at the Sousa Archives
- Celebrate Sousa’s 161st Birthday with the Sousa Archives Staff on November 6, 2015
- New American Music Month Exhibit Opens in the University Library's Marshall Gallery Today
December
2014
January
February
- Eduardo Diazmuñoz University of Illinois Opera Theatre Records Acquired by Sousa Archives
- The Music of Peter A. Michalove: A Special Concert
March
April
- Celebrate International Jazz Day on April 29, 2014
- New Exhibit Opens Today -- World War I with America’s March King
- Rising from the Ashes of Disco: Urbana-Champaign’s Music Scene during the 1980s and Early 1990s
May
June
- University of Illinois' Alma Mater Welcomes Flat Sousa to Campus
- Flat Sousa Introduced to the Records of the Poster Children Rock Band
- Flat Sousa Joins the Illinois Summer Band in a Performance of His "University of Illinois March"
- Flat Sousa Supervises the Archival Processing of the Pogo Studio Audio Recordings
- Flat Sousa Begins His Summer Adventures at the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
- Sousa Archives Acquires the Records of the Indie Bands Poster Children and Salaryman, and Twelve Inch Records
July
- Flat Sousa Makes New Friends at Illinois' Second Summer Band Concert on the Quad
- Flat Sousa meets Melissa Oresky, Simon Boerger, and Basia Stanek as they visit the Sousa Archives
- Flat Sousa Visits Meteor Crater
August
- New Exhibition Opens at the Sousa Archives -- "Pogo Studio: Capturing the Sounds of the Champaign-Urbana Music Scene"
- Flat Sousa Jamming with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra
- 2014 Sweet Corn Festival "One Community Together" Programming August 22-23
- Jack Van Camp Photographs of Blues Musicians Donated to the Sousa Archives
- Flat Sousa Visits the Bloomington-Normal Community Concert Band for its Final Summer Performance
September
- Flat Sousa Visits the Library of Congress During Society of American Archivists 2014 Annual Meeting
- U.S. Marine Band Performs for Flat Sousa and the Urbana-Champaign Community
- Managing the U.S. Marine Band’s Library and Special Collections: A Conversation with Chief Librarian and Master Gunnery Sergeant Jane Cross
October
- November 2 "Salute to Veterans with Captain Ian Gindes" Concert Kicks Off 2014 American Music Month Celebration
- Many Voices: The Great War in America’s Songs (New Smithsonian Institution Exhibit Opens at the Sousa Archives Today)
- It Lives! J. C. Deagan’s Marimba Xylophone Returns to the Sousa Archives on October 22, 2014
- New Sousa Archives Exhibit Opens: Professor Harding and the Illinois Bands during World War I
- Sousa Archives Acquires the David Nolan Photographs and Personal Papers
November
- Thanksgiving Holiday Closure
- Sousa Archives' New World War I Sheet Music Resource Goes Live!
- Final 2014 American Music Month Concert on November 20th
- 11-11-11: World War I Remembered through Words and Melody
- Sousa Archives Sponsors Champaign-Urbana Folk and Roots Festival's Family Performances for All Ages November 8
- Celebrate Sousa's 160th Birthday with the Sousa Archives Staff on November 6, 2014
December
- Sousa Archives Closed Over Winter Break
- Flat Sousa Joins the 10th Illinois Regiment Civil War Band in a Performance at the Lincoln Presidential Library
- Sousa Archives' New World War I Sheet Music Resource Goes Live!
2013
October
- 2013 American Music Month Continues With Stephen Wade Lecture and UI Wind Orchestra Concert On October 31st
- University of Illinois Wind Symphony Kicks Off American Music Month 2013 with October 29th Concert
- Welcome to the New Sousa Archives and Center for American Music Website
- Doyle Moore's Autoharp on Loan for Campus Folksong Club Exhibit
November
- Thanksgiving Holiday Closure
- Celebrate American Music Month with the Joshua Redman Quartet on November 21st
- American Music Month 2013 Continues with "Chocolate Woman Dreams the Milky Way" November 20 and 21
- Illinois Experimental Music Studio Photograph Rediscovered
- San Francisco Symphony Concert Continues University's American Music Month Celebration November 15, 2013
- Sousa Archives Rocks to the Beat of Adrian Belew and the Elvis Brothers
- Celebrate John Philip Sousa's Birthday on November 6, 2013