From San Juan to the Panama Canal – Music, Service, and Identity in the Life of Luis R. Miranda

On March 4, 1901, the band of the newly mustered Porto Rico Regiment of Volunteers [sic] marched down Pennsylvania Avenue during President William McKinley’s second inauguration, a ceremony the press hailed as “an imposing show of power.” Leading the ensemble was twenty-six-year-old Luis Rodríguez Miranda, a Puerto Rican clarinetist, guitarist, composer, and career soldier. His musicians and the battalion they accompanied reflected the United States’ expanding reach beyond the continent following the Spanish-American War.

This presentation introduces Luis R. Miranda as a central figure in the story of American music at 250. Across an expansive military and public service career, Miranda directed the 65th Infantry Regiment Band in Puerto Rico, served extensively in the Panama Canal Zone and on the mainland, and led university and civic ensembles during both World Wars. His collaborations with Alberto Galimany, leader of the Banda Republicana de Panamá, and Alton Adams, director of the U.S.…