Notes from the Concord Band

Since 1959	P.O. Box 302, Concord MA 01742	Winter/Spring 2001
978-897-9969
www.concordband.org

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Winter Concert

Saturday, March 3

On Saturday, March 3rd, 2001, the Concord Band will take the stage at 51 Walden Street under the baton of Assistant Conductor Christopher Morehouse. The concert will feature a wide variety of concert band music ranging from that of the Renaissance to the contemporary.

The concert will open with a lesser known Sousa work entitled Easter Monday on the White House Lawn. Originally composed as the third movement of Sousa's suite, Tales of a Traveler, the title is derived from the traditional egg rolling in Washington that was initiated by Dolly Madison in 1816. It was President Benjamin Harrison who introduced music to the annual event. John Philip Sousa, as leader of the Marine Band, conducted on three such occasions.

Gordon Jacob is recognized as one of the foremost contributors of original works for band, having composed such classics as An Original Suite for Military Band and Music for a Festival. The Concord Band is proud to perform his delightful arrangement of the keyboard music of William Byrd, entitled William Byrd Suite. The Band will be performing five movements of this work, including "The Earle of Oxford's Marche," "Pavana," "Jhon [sic] Come Kisse Me Now," "Wolsey's Wilde" and "The Bells."

Following the William Byrd Suite, the band will perform Frank Ticheli's beautiful setting of the American folk song, Shenandoah. Writing about this work, Ticheli said, "I was inspired by the freedom and beauty of the folk melody and by the images evoked by the words, especially the image of a river." Sometimes the accompaniment flows quietly under the melody; at other times it breathes alongside it. The work's mood ranges from quiet reflection, through growing optimism, to profound exaltation.

To close the first half of the concert, the Band will play Robert Longfield's transcription of Reinhold Gliere's exciting Russian Sailors' Dance from the ballet, The Red Poppy. The Russian Sailors' Dance, the best known excerpt from the ballet, is founded on the popular Russian folk song, "Yablochka" (Little Angel). The dance takes the form of a series of variations on this striking song.

The Band will open the second half of the concert with another work by Frank Ticheli, entitled Sun Dance. This piece features carefully balanced song- and dance-like components. The song-like principal theme is stated by the oboe. Most of the themes in this work are more vocal than instrumental in nature.

Earlier this year, the Concord Band performed the Stephen Foster Songbook by Stephen Bulla. The Band is proud to feature its saxophone section in another musical tribute to Stephen Foster, entitled Stephen Foster Revisited. Gerry Kriedberg will be playing soprano saxophone on this work. Eddie Jennings will play alto saxophone. Judy Piermarini and David Southard will play tenor saxophone and Larry Rubin will anchor the section on baritone saxophone. This arrangement by Bill Holcombe is written in a jazz style.

Lucien Cailliet's setting of Wagner's Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral, from Lohengrin, is one of the great classics of the concert band repertoire. In this transcription, Cailliet has succeeded in building into the instrumental framework of the modern band a true representation of all that Wagner so eloquently describes for chorus and orchestra.

The Band will close its 2001 Winter Concert with music from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, Evita, featuring the great tune "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina."

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Meet Assistant Conductor Christopher Morehouse

Christopher Morehouse Assistant Conductor

At its March 3rd concert, the Concord Band will welcome its Assistant Conductor, Christopher Morehouse, to the podium. Music Director Bill McManus will be at the MENC Eastern Division Concerence in Pittsburgh (story below). Chris grew up in Winsted, as small town in Connecticut whose only other claim to fame is that of being Ralph Nader's birthplace. Chris attended Ithaca College as a bass trombone major, receiving his Bachelor of Music degree in music education. At Ithaca he began the study of conducting and had the opportunity to conduct the Ithaca Trombone Choir in many concerts.

Upon graduation, Mr. Morehouse moved to Long Island, New York, and taught 6th, 7th and 8th grade band at the Miles Middle School in Amityville. Soon thereafter he was accepted into Frank Battisti's graduate conducting program at the New England Conservatory of Music. Chris studied for two years at NEC as Mr. Battisti's graduate assistant.

After receiving his Master of Music Degree in wind ensemble conducting, Chris accepted his current position in the Belmont Public School System. At Belmont High School, Chris conducts the Symphonic Band, Freshman Band, Marching Band, and Jazz Ensemble. He also teaches 4th and 5th grade instrumental classes throughout the system.

Chris is an avid snowboarder and enthusiastic traveler. This summer, he will spend a month in South Africa and Botswana on a photo safari. Speaking of his work with the Concord Band, Chris said, "I have been privileged to work with the Concord Band over the past two years. I enjoy making music with them and look forward to our concert on March 3rd."

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McManus Completing Term as MENC Eastern Division President

Concord Band Music Director, Dr. William McManus, has been serving as President of the Eastern Division of MENC, the National Association of Music Education, since July 1999. His duties have required him to serve on the MENC National Executive Board and to speak at state music conferences throughout the Eastern United States and Europe. His last official duty will be to preside over the MENC Eastern Division Conference, which will be held in Pittsburgh, on March 1-4. The Conference will include over 100 educational sessions and concerts by some of the most outstanding musical ensembles in the country, including the River City Brass Band, the Eastern Wind Symphony and the Berklee College of Music's Rainbow Band conducted by Phil Wilson. More than 2000 music educators from all over the eastern United States are expected to attend this conference. McManus will officially complete his term of office on June 30th, 2001, and will then serve as Past President until 2003.

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New Dixieland Arrangement Premiers at April Pops Concerts

The Concord Band has commissioned Colonel Lewis Buckley, Conductor of the US Coast Guard Band, to compose a new arrangement for Dixieland band and concert band. Funding for this new work was provided by long-time Concord Band percussionist and Dixieland enthusiast, Neil Tischler, and his wife, Regina.

The Concord Band has a long tradition of featuring its Dixieland band on such arrangements as Original Dixieland Concerto, Dixieland on Stage and Dixieland Jam. Buckley, himself an accomplished Dixieland trumpet player, will be attending the premier of his new work and will perform it with the Concord Band. The Band has played works by Buckley in the past, including Bell Flight and Danny Boy. Be sure to mark your calendars and plan to attend one of our Spring Pops Concerts on Friday, April 6th or Saturday, April 7th.

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In the Beginning...

In the late winter of 1959 Gene Parish and Bill Phelan, both then in their mid-30s, gathered with 30 or so other musicians at the behest of Janice Bacon to form a band to march in Concord's annual Patriots' Day parade. As the Concord Band, which no longer marches, prepares for its upcoming concert, the same two men continue to be an integral part of what has become an important Concord institution. They are, in fact, the only founding members of the Band who are still full-time members. A third founder, Bill Siebert, who now lives a fair distance from Concord, played with the Band last summer; we hope to see him next June.

Trumpeter Bill Phelan, recently honored as one of only five individuals who have served three or more terms on the Band's Board of Directors, readily acknowledges that the Band has been a very important part of his life. His three grown children (he and his wife, Genevieve, also have three grandchildren) see it as valuable therapy for him. Bill began his musical studies at the age of 13, one of his teachers having been Jacob Knuttenden, cornet soloist with John Philip Sousa's band in the '30s. In addition to his long membership in the Concord Band, Bill spent thirteen years each as a member of a brass band and a brass quintet.

Over the years, the Band has benefitted from Bill's career as a hardware department manager, and later a home center manager. Most recently he built an additional stage riser for his own trumpet section, is supervising the construction of a new Band equipement storage area in the basement of 51 Walden and helped build drawers for the percussion section's rolling storage cabinet.

Tubist Gene Parish (actually, he plays a Sousaphone—a version of the tuba designed for marching) and his wife Harriet, have three children and four granddaughters. An alumnus of MIT (SB and SM in mechanical engineering), Gene worked for a number of area companies until retiring in 1986.

Gene's training as a musician began on the now rare alto horn when he was in the seventh grade. He switched to tuba a year later. He recalls that when asked to list his hobbies a few years ago, he listed boating and woodworking, among others, but failed to list music or participation in the Concord Band. When this was called to his attention, he realized that the Band is such a large part of his life that he doesn't think of it as a hobby.

Gene has been president of the Band and now serves as its representative on the FOPAC board of directors. He has been an active participant, both on and off the stage, in the Band's annual Holiday Pops concerts. Gene has also taken on the responsibility of distributing the Band's Winter Festival CD to local retailers.

To help continue the work that Bill and Gene started 42 years ago, please write a check for as much as you can afford and return it in the enclosed envelope. If you have no return envelope, simply send your check to the address at the top of this newsletter.

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Harvard Band Director Thomas Everett to be Guest Conductor

The Concord Band is honored to welcome Harvard University Band Director Thomas G. Everett to the podium for a guest conducting appearance at the Band's Winter Concert on March 3rd. Since his appointment to the Harvard faculty in 1971, Mr. Everett has founded and directed the Harvard Wind Ensemble, the Harvard Jazz Band and the Harvard Summer Pops Band. A graduate of Ithaca College, he has held positions at Phillips Academy, Brown University and the New England Conservatory. As a noted bass trombonist, he has performed with the Bolshoi Ballet, the Boston Pops, the Portland (Maine) Symphony, and the jazz bands of Tommy Dorsey, Dizzy Gillespie and Ray Charles. Mr. Everett has been a conductor, adjudicator and soloist throughout the United States, Europe and the former Soviet Union. He was the conductor for jazz trombonist J. J. Johnson's album, The Brass Orchestra (Verve, 1997), which was nominated for three Grammy Awards.

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Calendar of Upcoming Events

Concerts will be held at 51 Walden, Concord, at 8:00pm.

Winter Concert

Spring Pops

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