Patrick Sarsfield (P.S.) Gilmore, the "Father of the American Concert Band," was born in County Galway, Ireland, on December 25, 1829. Most sources give the town of Ballygar as Gilmore's birthplace.

His musical career began when he started playing the flute as a teenager. With no positions available for flutists in the Athlone-based Irish Regiment band, Gilmore switched to the cornet. Gilmore accompanied the Irish Regiment when it went to Canada in 1848. Shortly thereafter he moved to Boston, where he worked with a local music publisher and dealer. In the 1850s Gilmore opened his own music store, earned a reputation as a cornetist, and conducted several bands in and around Boston.

When the Civil War broke out, the Boston band that he organized in 1859 enlisted with the Union Army via the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers. Although the band's tenure with the army lasted less than a year, it performed musical and medical duties at several battles including Bull Run and Antietam. For the duration of the war, Gilmore was in charge of reorganizing the Massachusetts military bands and managing the music for the inauguration of the Louisiana governor in 1864.

Gilmore's popularity and prestige were particularly enhanced by his organization and staging of two music festivals: the National Peace Jubilee of 1869 to raise money for the widows and orphans of Civil War soldiers, and the World's Peace Jubilee of 1872 in honor of the end of the Franco-Prussian War. Both events were held in Boston, Massachusetts, and both jubilees were large-scale festivals (the first lasting five days and the second lasting eighteen days) that included vocal and instrumental music. For each occasion, special coliseums were constructed to house the large band, choir, and audiences; the first coliseum (the "grand") and the second coliseum (he "great") could hold tens of thousands of people.

After the conclusion of the second jubilee, Gilmore turned his attention back to conducting bands, where he integrated more and more woodwinds (based upon European models) into what had traditionally been brass bands. Gilmore began leading the New York Twenty-seventh Regiment Band in 1873. He led this band for almost twenty years during which it performed nearly once a day.

In addition to conducting bands, organizing, and managing music programs, Gilmore also authored several pieces of music and poems, including "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."

Gilmore died unexpectedly in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 24, 1892.

Sources: Jere T. Humphreys. "Strike Up the Band! The Legacy of Patrick S. Gilmore." Music Educators Journal 74, no. 2 (October 1987): 22-26.