Air Force Band surprises museum visitors, spreads holiday cheer

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Starting with a single cellist in the middle of the National Air and Space Museum’s “Milestones of Flight” gallery here and swelling to 120 musicians, The U.S. Air Force Band exhilarated museum visitors Dec. 3 with the first flash mob to be produced by one of the five military branches’ top bands.

The four-minute performance featured an original arrangement of “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring/Joy to the World” led by the Band’s commander and conductor, Col. Larry H. Lang. Unsuspecting museum visitors were astonished as instrumentalists streamed into the gallery from behind airplanes and space capsules, and vocalists burst into song from the museum’s second floor balcony.


View the video here.

The surprise event kicked off the band’s “Spirit of the Season” holiday performances, 29 concerts in all, at various venues throughout the Washington, D.C. area including the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the National Museum of American History, local high schools and others.

For a complete listing, please visit www.usafband.af.mil.

(Courtesy of The U.S. Air Force Band Public Affairs)