Friday and Saturday December 8 and 9
What better way to celebrate the holiday season than to enjoy an evening
of great music and fun in the festive 51 Walden holiday atmosphere. Concord
Band Holiday Pops is a tradition in Concord and sells out early. Plan a
great evening out with your friends and neighbors and the Concord
Band. Table seating is available at $12 per person ($48 for a table of
four; $72 for a table of six) and includes beverages and snacks. Don't be
disappointed — call for reservations today! For
reservations call (508) 897-9969.
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When Bill Toland retired last spring after 33 years as Music Director of
the Concord Band, he could reasonably assume that his association with the
Band had come to an end. The Band's Board of Trustees, however, couldn't
quite see it that way. They decided shortly after Bill had announced his
retirement to them in 1992 to appoint him Music Director Emeritus, a
permanent appointment that would continue his affiliation with the Concord
Band for life. The announcement of the appointment took place at Bill's
retirement dinner on May 20 at the Concord Elks Club.
Attended by well over 100 current and former members of the Concord Band
and their guests, the party was a festive occasion, with musical
entertainment provided by a pick-up group of Band members who sounded as
though they had been rehearsing for months.
Bill has since moved with his wife, Beth, and two daughters to Marquette,
Michigan, where Beth will be a medical resident in Family Medicine, having
received her MD in June. All of us in the Band think of Bill often, and as
soon as our Board of Trustees figures out exactly what Bill's
responsibilities as Music Director Emeritus are, he'll be the next to
know. We are sure that he will be asked to visit whenever he can, to
continue to write music for us and then to conduct premiere
performances. Perhaps we'll ask him, in his spare time, to try to raise a
few million dollars for the Concord Band.
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The Concord Band presented its first concert of the 1995-1996 season under
new Music Director, Dr. William G. McManus, on
Saturday evening, October 28 at 8:15 PM. The concert was held at 51 Walden,
Concord's Performing Arts Center and the Band's permanent home.
The concert presented major works for concert band by such great composers
as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Darius Milhaud and Alfred Reed. The concert
opened with Königsmarch, a wonderful concert march by Richard
Strauss. The featured work of the first half of the concert was Darius
Milhaud's Suite Francaise, which was first performed by the Goldman
Band in 1945. Milhaud, who composed the work shortly after the end of World
War II, named each of the five movements after different provinces in
France where the American and Allied forces fought along side the French
underground for the liberation of France. The first half of the concert
closed with John Zdechlik's Chorale and Shaker Dance. The second
half of the concert featured the British Band masterwork, English Folk
Song Suite, by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The concert closed with Part One
of Alfred Reed's Armenian Dances, a tremendously exciting and
challenging work by one of America's greatest composers of concert band
music!
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On Thursday, July 27, the Concord Band played the last of its ten summer
concerts, completing its busiest summer season ever« and the first in
which not a single concert was either canceled or cut short due to
rain. With ten concerts in just six weeks, it must have been something like
trying to take a drink from a firehose for Bill
McManus, who had joined the Band as Music Director in May.
The 1995 summer season began with a celebration of the Concord Museum
before an extremely appreciative audience at the Middlesex School in
Concord on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in June. The following Thursday
evening, the Band opened its tenth season at Fruitlands Museums in Harvard,
Mass.
The Band performed its usual six-concert series at Fruitlands before
unusually large crowds. Attendance at the first of the six concerts,
estimated at more than 2,000, eclipsed that of the final concert of the
previous season, which had been the best attended concert until then. Each
week the crowd was larger than it had been the week before. It is now clear
that the Concord Band's summer series at Fruitlands has become an
institution, no longer beginning the season with a small audience that
would build along with aware ness that summer had finally arrived. The
beautiful weather this past summer certainly didn't hurt. In addition to
its Fruitlands series, the Band played four additional concerts including
the opener at the Middlesex School: one i
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William G. McManus, who became Music Director of the Concord Band last
spring, was recently awarded the 1995 Distinguished Service Award by the
Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA). The MMEA, whose members
are more than 1,200 music educators from across the commonwealth, selects
one of its members each year for this prestigious award.
Bill, a Past-President of the MMEA, has been extremely active in the
organization for more than 25 years. He has worked at the district level,
state level and also the Eastern Division level. Most recently, he has
served as chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for Music Education, an
organization advocating for the inclusion of music in the public school
curriculum.
The award, which was presented to Bill at the 1995 MMEA All State
Conference in Danvers, reads as follows:
The Massachusetts Music Educators Association Distinguished Service Award
is presented to Dr. William G. McManus for his dedication to high standards
in Music Education for all students of Massachusetts; for his inspirational
leadership as an administrator in his community and our association; for
his tireless efforts to influence state government as to the importance of
the arts in every child's educational life; for his total commitment to our
profession.
Dr. McManus is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music and holds a
Master of Music and Doctor of Education from Boston University. He
currently serves as Director of Fine and Performing Arts for the Belmont
public schools. He is also on the faculty of Fitchburg State College. Prior
to assuming his position in Belmont, McManus was Supervisor of Music in the
Leicester Public Schools (1965- 1971) and Coordinator of Music for the
Westborough Public Schools (1971-1983).
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The Concord Band Souvenir Shop (actually, a table next to the refreshment
stand) was a busy spot this past summer on the lawn at Fruitlands Museums
in Harvard. Concert-goers purchased Concord Band ceramic mugs, T-Shirts and
post cards (see photo, above). These items are now available to you as
premiums for increasing your contribution to the Concord Band or by
becoming a first-time contributor to the Band.
As you drink your morning coffee, you can be reminded that there's always a
Concord Band concert on the horizon. Or help promote the Band by becoming a
walking Concord Band billboard. Need to drop cousin Nellie a line? Do it on
a Concord Band picture post card!
Here's the deal: If your increase your annual contribution to the Concord
Band by $50 or more, you will be entitled to a set of six Concord Band
ceramic mugs. A first-time contribution of $100 or more will bring the same
fantastic prize! At Fruitlands this set of mugs fetched $40. Increase your
contribution by $35 or more (but less than $50) or give $50 to the Band for
the first time, and your prize will be a Concord Band T-Shirt (sizes avail
able: M, L, XL) worth $15 at the Concord Band Fruitlands Souvenir
Shop. Last, but not least, if you increase your contribution to the Concord
Band by $15 or more (but less than $35) or give $25 to the Band for the
first time, you will receive a pack of 10 Concord Band post cards, showing
the entire band on stage at 51 Walden together with both Music Director,
Bill McManus, and Music Director Emeritus, Bill Toland. At Fruitlands these
sold for $2.50.
With the premiums we're offering, how can you afford not to increase your
donation substantially. Or, if you've never given before, now's the time to
cash in on our premium bonanza! One catch: you must specify the premium you
qualify for on your contribution envelope. T-Shirts and post cards will be
mailed to the address you supply. Mugs must be picked up at 51 Walden
either on the night of October 28 or at other times that can be learned by
calling (508) 897-9969.
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Like most community-based non-profit organizations, the Concord Band can
use all the help it can get. On top of our list of needs is a Volunteer
Coordinator, whose job is to channel the interests of those who express a
willingness to help into efforts that will assist the Band in carrying out
its mission of bringing the best in concert band music to the community. At
present, most of the tasks listed below are carried out by members of the
Band and its Board. More outside assistance would allow us to do a much
better job.
The opportunities are many: Holiday Pops represents an
enormous physical undertaking. Help is needed with everything from taking
reservations to decorating the hall, waiting on tables, and selling raffle
tickets. Other areas where help could be used include organizing mailings,
logistics, and planned giving. If you have an interest, we have a job for
you! Please write to the Band (address above) or
call (508) 897-9969 to volunteer.
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