Saturday, October 26, 8:00 pm
The 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.
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Paul Berler guest conductor
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In 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.
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Paul Silver clarinet
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The 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.
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More 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.
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More 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.
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The CD Committee. Back row, left to right: Dan Diamond, Bill McManus,
Nathan Finch, Jeff Leiserson. Front row: Tommy Taylor, June Grace,
Lorraine Chase, Yvonne Dailey
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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.
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From 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.
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At 51 Walden Street, Concord, 8:00 pm.
- FALL CONCERT
- Saturday, October 26
- HOLIDAY POPS
- Friday and Saturday, December 13 and 14
for reservations, call (978) 897-9969
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