Monday answer
The name of the event was the National Peace Jubilee.
The man was Patrick S. Gilmore.
Remember the time. Before Sousa he was the �rock� promoter of his day. In 1869 he organized tens of city bands from throughout the U.S. to come together to play in the huge hall and do it together. The highlight was apparently the anvil chorus using the world�s largest organ and bass drum, and one hundred firemen dressed in blue trousers, red shirts and brass helmets smashing syncopated beats on 100 donated anvils. He also used dozens of assistant conductors, 10,000 voices (four part harmony) and a one thousand piece orchestra. There were also assorted church bells and cannon fired by push button from the conductor�s music stand. Sort of like an Orange Bowl halftime except they actually did something entertaining and for five days (eighteen days in 1872). Each qualifying group was offered half fare and lodging in tents and a bound book of the music. Gilmore, a top quality horn player himself, to be fair, did a great amount of work to get bands, soloists, choral groups, logistics, funding and he did it in six months (the first time). If you think ticket prices are steep today, in 1869 the original price was set at $100 each for the five day event. He brought in European bands, opera singers, soloists and in 1872 even got Johann Strauss, identified as the most popular musician in the world.
The first jubilee made money (($6,882.04) (it also got Gilmore a $40,000 purse) the second didn�t. Eventually the drum got so big it wouldn�t play and the organ bellows so large when operated it couldn�t get enough air for the huge bass "world's largest organ" pipes. Patrons got more particular as to the sound quality and wanted more of everything. By 1873 it was over. Gilmore went on to New York to be the premiere bandleader in the country. He sold out 150 consecutive smaller concerts. After Gilmore died in 1892 Sousa picked up the slack and became far better known but it was Gilmore that got it rolling.
You can check out Gilmore or National Peace Jubilee online if so inclined. It's hard to imagine today the impact this had then and perhaps that's why few remember or have ever heard of the event or the man. One article in American Heritage of 1969 advanced the idea that Mr. Gilmore was in no small part the character "Harold Hill" of the musical "Music Man".