Description: Consists of original and published music compositions and arrangements, correspondence, concert programs, memoirs, newspaper clippings, Sousa Band Fraternal Society newsletters, photographs, Volunteer Illini Projects awards, yearbooks, and appointment books. The collection documents Kent's career with the Sousa Band through photographs and correspondence, as well as the transcription of his interview for the Sousa Oral History Project. The many arrangements, compositions, and transcriptions within the collection document his contribution to the music publishing industry. Included with Kent's published compositions is "On To The Goal, Illinois." Among Kent's original, unpublished compositions is a submission for the Mets official song, entitled "I Am A Mets Fan." In addition to his original compositions, Kent also arranged a number of works by a variety of composers including George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, and Oscar Hammerstein. Finally, newspaper clippings and awards attest to Kent's active, post-retirement participation with Urbana-Champaign area Volunteer Illini Projects. The collection documents the life and career of a Sousa Band member, particularly a native Central Illinoisan, before, during, and after his tour with the great March King.
A composer/title index for all the music is located at the end of the finding aid.
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