fife and drum group
Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps at White House

Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps performs at ITC

By James M. Benavides
Public Affairs Specialist

(April 20, 2009)--The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps will perform at the Institute of Texan Cultures at 11 a.m., Tuesday, April 21 to share some of America's oldest military music traditions. The performance is included with regular admission to the museum.

The musicians of the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps perform on 10-hole wooden fifes, hand-made, rope-tensioned drums and single-valve bugles -- all of which are modern adaptations of late 18th-century military signal instruments.

The Fife and Drum Corps repertoire is representative of traditional field music, much of which has been researched from 18th and 19th century primary sources. The group uses traditional tunes as the basis for more complex and challenging arrangements.

Created in 1960 as an element of the 3rd United States Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) at Ft. Myer, Va., the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps performs at ceremonies and special events at the White House and throughout the nation's capital and special events such as San Antonio's annual Fiesta celebration.

Institute of Texan Cultures admission is $8, adults ages 12-64; $7, ages 65 and older; $6, college students with ID and children ages 3-11; and free, museum members, children ages 2 and younger, UTSA and Alamo Colleges students with ID and UTSA faculty and staff. Museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday, and noon-5 p.m., Sunday.

The Institute of Texan Cultures is on the UTSA HemisFair Park Campus, 851 Durango Blvd., San Antonio, Texas, 78205. For more information, call (210) 458-2330.