1893-1903

Arthur Pryor performs extensively as trombone soloist with John Philip Sousa Band, playing many of his own virtuosic compositions. Pryor’s virtuosic performances earn him the nickname “Paganini of the trombone” and help establish trombone as a solo instrument in United States (Wallace, Brass Solo 246). One reviewer, speaking of a solo performance with Sousa in Omaha, Nebraska, says, “His execution set the prairies afire; his vibrating pedal notes rattled the windows of the Theater and killed the gold fishes and stunned the canaries all the way out to the packing plant where even the iron gates trembled” (Herbert, Trombone 148).