Astoria —The last time the North Coast Symphonic Band presented a concert in the style of John Philip Sousa, the audience response was so positive that conductor Dave Becker has decided it’s time to do it again. The featured concert of the NCSB is themed “The Sousa Tradition” and will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 19 at the Liberty Theater. The Astoria Tuba Quartet will present pre-concert entertainment starting at 1:30 p.m. and doors open at 1:15 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $7 for students.

Sousa was born 160 years ago. As a composer, Sousa is known primarily for his American military and patriotic marches. He served for 12 years as conductor of the United States Marine Band before leaving to form his own band. With The Sousa Band, he toured the world performing in more than 15,000 concerts.

NCSB conductor and musical director Dave Becker has prepared a similar traditional Sousa-style concert featuring an amazing mix of marches, operatic favorites, popular tunes of the day, novelty numbers and light classical depictions of far-away places. “Almost anything could fit in a Sousa concert as long as it was above all entertaining and played well,” Becker says. “It’s true ‘Americana’ and always fun for the band and audience to revisit.”

Major pieces in the afternoon concert include well-loved music from Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen” set in a “Carmen Symphony” by José Serebrier and Sousa’s own arrangement of the ever-popular “Pirates of Penzance” featuring many of the band’s stars in short vignettes.

Featured guest performer for the afternoon is sedentary baton twirler Edith Farrar of the Ballard (Washington) Sedentary Sousa Band. Farrar is a classically trained musician who strayed from that path early and often. She toured in the 1980s and 1990s as a piano accompanist, appeared as a vocal soloist for a Seattle dance orchestra and currently works as a children’s librarian. Her interest in comedy developed at home as the youngest of five children and at school as the class clown. Farrar has been performing as a sedentary baton twirler for the Ballard Sedentary Sousa Band for 28 years and is making her first appearance with the NCSB.

Frequent guest performer professor Joan Paddock of Linfield College will return to the NCSB to team up with NCSB principal trumpet Bob La Torre of Manzanita to be featured in an old concert-in-the-park cornet trio “The Three Kings.” Triple tonguing and flying fingers will be the order of the day. North Coast icon of music education John Hammond will also be featured as a guest conductor on a few selections.

The Astoria Tuba Quartet, consisting of Dennis Hale, Lee Stromquist, Bob Joiner and Brian Bergman, are four fun guys who enjoy heavy metal and the music it makes. The lush warm sound from their tubas and tenor tubas surprises most audiences who expect brash, brassy, bombastic sounds. In contrast, audiences find a mellow, surprisingly soft mixture of musical instruments playing jazz, ballads, Latin and classical music by familiar composers.

The North Coast Symphonic Band is a community wind band based in Astoria and includes local amateurs, students, and professionals who are passionate about their music. Community support contributes to the longevity of the group and helps keep ticket prices affordable. There are limited openings in some sections of the band. Potential musicians should own their own instruments and play at the advanced high school level. For more information about joining the band, contact personnel director Lee Stromquist at encore1@charter.net or call 503-861-1328.

Tickets are available at the Liberty Theater box office, located at 1203 Commercial St. and open from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and two hours before the performance, or by calling 503-325-5922, ex. 55. This concert is part of the season ticket package. Online tickets are available at www.ticketswest.com and include a service charge.

For more information about the North Coast Symphonic Band, visit www.northcoastsymphonicband.org, email ncsband@charter.net, or call Janet Bowler at 503-325-2431.