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The Concord Band Box 302, Concord, MA 01742 Tel: 978-897-9969 |
Notes from the Concord Band |
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Fall ConcertSaturday, October 26, 8:00 pmThe Concord Band, under the baton of Music Director Dr. William McManus, will kick off its 2002-03 season with a concert featuring both contemporary wroks for symphonic band and classics of the concert band repertory. The Fall Concert will be held at the Band's home at 51 Walden Street in Concord on October 26th beginning at 8:00 p.m. The concert will begin with the festive Entry March, which opens the third act of Tchaikovsky's well known ballet, Swan Lake. The march has recently been transcribed for band by William J. Bellis. Two works based upon music of the Colonial period in American history will follow the opening march. The first is an exciting piece entitled Concord by Clare Grundman. This work was commissioned by, and is dedicated to, the United States Marine Band in Washington, D.C., Col. John Bourgeois, Conductor. Named after our own town of Concord, Massachusetts, the piece is based upon three traditional tunes from Old New England: "The Whtie Cockade", "America" by William Billings, and "Yankee Doodle". The second piece featuring tunes from the Colonial era is Colonial Airs and Dances by Robert Jager. This five movement suite is based on 17th century American Colonial songs, which are more English than American in character. To close the first half of the concert, the Concord Band will welcome guest conductor Paul Berler (see accompanying article) to the podium to conduct Haydn Wood's Mannin Veen, one of the wonderful "old chestnuts" of concert band literature. Tis romantic work is an extended setting of four Manx (i.e., from the Isle of Man) folk songs. This work is characteristic of th eBritish band settings from the first half of this century. The second half of the concert will open with a new composition for band by Canadian composer Andre Jutras entitiled A Barrie North Celebration. This demanding piece features exciting rhythms, beautiful solos, and wonderful melodies. Andre Jutras is becoming recognized as an important composer of contemporary band music. In recent years, the Concord Band has increasingly featured soloists from within the Band. Tonight's featured soloist is Paul Silver, who plays in the first clarinet section (see accompanying article). Paul will be performing the third (Rondo) movement of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, transcribed for band by McCathren and Casteel. Guest conductor Paul Berler will take the podium once again to conduct Charles Ives' contemporary masterwork for band, Variations on America. This delightful piece is full of tongue-in-cheek humor and showcases many of the fine musicians in the Concord Band. The concert will close with a performance of the great Chicago Tribune March, the best known of the marches composed by William Paris Chambers, who also wrote March Religioso and Boys of the Old Brigade. The Chicago Tribune March is dedicated to the newspaper of the same name. Following the concert, a reception will be held in the lobby of 51 Walden. The audience is invited to enjoy refreshments and to meet our guest artists--conductor Paul Berler and soloist Paul Silver.
Paul Berler, Guest ConductorIn keeping with its tradition of featuring guest conductors, the Concord Band is pleased to welcome Paul Berler, the conductor of the Chelmsford Community Band, to the podium at 51 Walden Street to conduct two major works for concert band. Mr. Berler is currently in his second year as the Band Director at Chelsea, Massachusetts, High School as well as in his second season as Director of the Chelmsford Community Band, which he had previously served as Assistant Director for four seasons. He holds a Bachelors degree in Music Education from the University of New Hampshire, and a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory. He has studied conducting with Stanely Hettinger and Frank Battisti. Before coming to Chelsea, Mr. Berler had directed New Hampshire high school music programs in Pembroke and Londonderry. He has also been a regular columnist for the magazine Saxophone Journal. Mr. Berler resides in Plaistow, New Hampshire, with his wife, Cheryl.
Paul Silver, Clarinet SoloistThe third (Rondo) movement of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto in the Concord Band's October 26 concert will feature the Band's own Paul Silver. Paul, who joined the first clarinet section of the Band in 1997, has played "up front" several times in th epast as part of Dixieland ensembles, but this is his first solo effort with the Band. Mr. Silver was a founding member of the Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble, under the direction of internationally recognized wind ensemble conductor, Frank Battisti. He went on to study music education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he was a principal member of the Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band. Mr. Silver's versatility (he plays all of the clarinets, saxophones, and oboe) has led to regular and guest engagements in local theater, opera, orchestra, big band and community band organizations. Some of his regular commitments have been as a founding member of the New England Conservatory Chamber Symphony, the Longy School of Music Big Band, the Middlesex Concert Band (where hy was concertmaster for 19 years) and the Metropolitan Wind Symphony.
Lifetime Service Awards to Burdine and TolandMore than a year ago, the Concord Band Board of Directors decided that the time had become right to begin acknowledging publicly outstanding individual efforts on behalf of the Band, and began planning what has become the Concord Band Lifetime Service Award. The Board's intention is to name individuals whose participation, over a significant span of time, have made a fundamental difference to the Concord Band. Each Award will be expressed in the form of a sentence or two summing up that individual's contribution. An Honor Roll will be created and placed prominently on display in the 51 Walden Lobby, in this way keeping all of these individuals in our collective long-term memory. At its Fall Concert on October 26, the Band will initiate the Lifetime Service Award by honoring two very worthy retired members of the Band: Bassoonist Bill Burdine and Music Director Emeritus William M. Toland.
Concord Band Releases 2nd CD—1st in "best ... in concert" SeriesMore than two years in preparation, the first in a series of CDs featuring the best recent digitally recorded concert performances by the Concord Band is now available in a limited edition release of 500 copies. "The best of the Concord Band in Concert" (TBOCBIC) series begins with the 1992-1994 concert seasons, which came toward the end of the Music Directorship of William M. Toland, whoc conducts all of the selections on the CD. This starting point was chosen for several reasons, not the least of which was the first use of modern digital recording equipment to record Concord Band concerts. TBOCBIC was coordinated by Band Board Members June Grace, who made sure that all of the concert recordings during the three-year period covered by the CD were located, and Dan Diamond, who kept track of which concert recordings had been reviewed by which reviewers. The much harder work of reviewing approximately 100 concert performance recordings fell to a committee of five Band members, working independently, but all following the same set of scoring rules. The reviewers, as it turned out, were three clarinetists (Lorraine Chase, Yvonne Dailey, and Jeff Leiserson) and two trumpeters (Nathan Finch and Tommy Taylor). Music Director Bill McManus was asked to join the process at the last stage, where the final decisions were to be made, and the highest ranking 2 to 2½ hours of music had to be reduced to about 74 minutes. Here, balances had to be struck between musical categories so, for example, the CD would not exclude marches or show music. The selection of the final ordering of the pieces on TBOCBIC was left to Bill, who organized them as though they were a single concert. In addition to giving the reviewers some "breathing room" between scoring rounds, the principal reason that there was so much elapsed time in producing this CD is that the reviewers were working with audio tape cassettes. Unlike a CD, where it is quite easy to skip from track to track, finding selections on tape is much more time consuming.
Much credit must also be given to Ray Kelly of KEL Live Sound, who has been the Band's recording engineer throughout the past decade. In addition to all the original concert recordings excerpted on TBOCBIC, Ray also supplied any missing review tapes and finally created the master disc used for reproducing the CD. The work of twelve composers is presented on TBOCBIC. Two are established all-time great writers for concert band: John Philip Sousa and Gustav Holst. Two are known for a few outstanding works for band: Julius Fucik and Genaro Codina. One is among the most prolific and highly regarded of modern day composers for band: James Curnow. One is a modern day composer, best known for the single work on this CD: Edward Gregson. One is a great orchestral composer in transcription: Sergei Prokofiev. Three are from the world of jazz: W. C. Handy, Louis Armstrong and John Lewis. One is a contemporary writier for the music theater: Claude-Michel Schönberg. Finally, one is better known as a professional percussionist: Peter Tanner. Two soloists appear on TBOCBIC: the Band's own tubist, Matt Stevens, plays the Gregson Tuba Concerto and Gary Spellissey, area professional percussionist, plays the third movement of Peter Tanner's Sonata for Marimba. Priced at $15.00, the new CD will be available at all of the Band's remaining 2002 concerts (Fall and Holiday Pops) and from selected area retailers after Thanksgiving. Almost forgot: we were supposed to ask for your annual financial support, which we depend upon so heavily. Envelope enclosed. No envelope? Address over. Favorite Holiday Traditions—It's Time to Make Your Concord Band Holiday Pops ReservationsFrom My Family Holiday Tradtions by Michaela Plumer, age 9: "My favorite family tradition happens when we go to a special Christmas Concert. My family and I go because my grandfather is in it. What's so great about it is we always get to go backstage to see everyone. My favorite part about the concert is watching the waiters and waitresses serving snacks to everyone. Going to the Christmas Band Concert each year is always enjoyable!" Be sure to use the reservation card enclosed with this mailing to make your reservations early for the Concord Band's annual Holiday Pops concerts, to be held at 51 Walden on December 13th and 14th. There's no better way to celebrate the holiday season than to enjoy an evening of great music and fun in the festive 51 Walden holiday atmosphere! Holiday Pops with the Concord Band has become a tradition with many area families and sells out early. Plan a great evening out with your family, friends and neighbors ... and the Concord Band. Table seating is priced at $15 per person ($60 for a table of four) and includes beverages and snacks. Return your reservation card today! Reservations can also be phoned in to (978) 897-9969. Upcoming EventsAt 51 Walden Street, Concord, 8:00 pm.
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