The Antebellum Marine Band, Gettysburg, performs at 1 p.m. June 10 and 11 during the “1876 World’s Fair Weekend,” National Museum of Industrial History (NMIH), Bethlehem.

The NMIH will recreate the Philadelphia event with machinery demonstrations, exhibitions, re-enactments, music, Victorian games, family activities and food.

It was 145 years ago in 1876 when Philadelphia was host for the “Centennial International Exhibition,” considered the United State’s first “World’s Fair.” Visitors from 37 nations traveled to a 450-acre campus. An estimated 10 million attended during the Fair’s six-month run.

Although the Antebellum Marine Band repertoire spans the beginning of band music in the United States and up to the first decade of the 20th century at the height of the John Philip Sousa era, the repertoire for the NMIH “World’s Fair Weekend” will focus primarily on selections one might have heard during the 1876 World’s Fair. Performance selections will include Civil War era tunes up to 1876 and the Ulysses S. Grant presidency (1869-1877).

The opening ceremony of the 1876 World’s Fair was attended by President Ulysses S. Grant, who not only gave a grand speech, but turned on the Corliss Steam Engine which powered most of the other machines on display in Machinery Hall.

Antebellum Marine Band Founder and Bandmaster Gunnery Sergeant Kenneth J. Serfass, in addition to leading the Antebellum Marine Band, is a full-time professional living historian, portraying Ulysses S. Grant.

With Serfass portraying President Grant at the NMIH event, the Antebellum Marine Band will be led by Conductor Andrew Schwartz, who served with the Second Marine Division Band at Camp Lejeune.

Antebellum Marine Band musicians hail not only from Gettysburg and neighboring regions, but include musicians from the Allentown Band, Pioneer Band of Allentown and the Macungie Band.

Fun fact: The Allentown Band performed with 27 men at the Centennial Exhibition in August 1876 and marched in the 1869 Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C., for Ulysses S. Grant.

Serfass, United States Marine Corp. (retired) established the Antebellum Marine Band with a focus on the U.S. Marine Band of the 1800s.

Says Serfass, “The band’s look and music were far different than the brass bands of the volunteer armies during the Civil War.

“The repertoire was more intricate and could be due to the Marine Band boasting a full woodwind section to complement the brass.

“Even then, under the direction of Bandmaster Francis M. Scala, the U.S. Marine Band was building its reputation as a premier ensemble, paving the way for John Philip Sousa’s ascent as ‘The March King,’” Serfass says.

Serfass, a Bethlehem native, joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1984. His last duty station was the First Marine Division Band during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He retired in July 2014 to become a music teacher.

Serfass, originally a Civil War reenactor, has for 47 years studied his childhood hero, Ulysses S. Grant.

Information: National Museum of Industrial History “1876 World’s Fair Weekend,” NMIH office, 602 E. Second St., Bethlehem; 610-694-6644; https://www.nmih.org/

Classical View is a column about classical music concerts, conductors and performers. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com