A musical journey through American history on music-making, music-loving U.S. Presidents Since our earliest days as an independent nation, music has been a part of Presidential life. This program will describe how the lives of American Presidents, both in and out of the White House, included a love for and interest in a variety of musical genres. Which president had his own band and could play almost every instrument in it? Who thought he’d have preferred a life as a concert violinist to being the first magistrate? How did a presidential fanfare evolve? Who received a significant European musical award? Was that really a president playing the piano on television? Who commissioned campaign songs? Join Lorna Grenadier, a long-time docent at the National Portrait Gallery and other cultural institutions, for answers and musical illustrations.