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Winter Concert
Don Lucas: Trombone Virtuoso
Philanthropy in the Arts: The Giants Get
Most of the Attention Why One Very Small Nonprofit Should Get
Yours
Can't Attend the Winter Concert? Enjoy it on
CD!
Calendar of Upcoming Events
featuring Trombone Virtuoso Don Lucas
Saturday, March 3
The Concord Band will present its annual Winter Concert at 51 Walden
Street in Concord on Saturday, March 3, 2007, beginning at 8:00 p.m. This
year, the Concord Band has been featuring the music of American composers
J. Clifton Williams and W. Francis McBeth. Composer McBeth once
described Clifton Williams as the "Godfather" of American concert
band music. This concert will feature three compositions by Clifton
Williams, as well a special performance by trombone virtuoso Don Lucas.
Paul Berler, Assistant Conductor of the Concord Band, will open the
concert with Clifton Williams' Strategic Air Command March, one of
very few marches Williams ever composed, followed by his Symphonic Dance
No. 3, Fiesta. Fiesta depicts the pageantry of Latin American
celebrations' street bands, bull fights, and bright costumes. This work is
one of five symphonic dances which Williams composed for the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, in which Clifton
Williams played French horn for many years. Fiesta was subsequently
rescored for concert band.
Dr. William G. McManus, Music Director of the Concord Band, will take
the podium to conduct Caccia and Chorale, the last work composed by
Clifton Williams before his untimely death in 1976. In the notes presented
with the conductor's score to this piece, Joseph M. Tate writes, "knowing
the seriousness of his illness when he began this work and feeling that he
might not survive an impending operation, Williams intended to write only
the Caccia. However the surgery seemed to be successful and the Chorale
movement was thus composed as a personal prayer of thanksgiving along with
a sincere plea for ethical regeneration by all mankind."
To close the first half of the concert, the band will perform
Kaddish, by W. Francis McBeth. Kaddish, from the Aramaic and
Hebrew word for "holy," is the Jewish prayer for the dead. McBeth composed
this work as a memorial for J. Clifton Williams, his beloved teacher. The
"heartbeat" that runs throughout the piece in the percussion section
is a rhythmic quote from a measure in the Chorale of Williams' Caccia
and Chorale.
The second half of the concert will open with a performance of
Tatarian Dances by composer Elena Roussanova Lucas. Elena Lucas, a
native of Moscow, teaches theory and composition at the Berklee College of
Music and Boston University. Tatarian Dances is dedicated to her mother,
Lidia Roussanova, who still resides in Moscow. The Tatarian people are
descendents of the nomadic clans of Genghis Khan who came from
Manchuria/Mongolia. They traveled northeast, settling in Russia in the
ninth century. The Tatars live on the fertile and mineral-rich lands of the
Volga River region, the Ural Mountains, and Siberia. This area, called
Tatastan, is now a republic in the Russian Federation. Tatarian music
reflects the regions rich natural resources. This four movement suite
expresses the many traditions of the Tatarian holidays. The folk music is
fresh, lively, and melodious. Composer Elena Lucas resides in Boston with
her husband, trombonist and tonight's soloist, Don Lucas.
The concert will close with a performance of William Goldstein's
Colloquy, a work for solo trombone and symphonic band. This work was
commissioned by the United States Army Band and premiered before 12,000
people at an outdoor concert in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1967. The
New York Premiere took place at Carnegie Hall. Trombonist Joe Alessi of the
New York Philharmonic recently recorded Colloquy as did Ron Barron of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra a few years earlier. The Concord Band is honored
to feature trombonist Don Lucas, Chair of the Brass, Woodwinds and
Percussion Department at Boston University, in tonight's performance of
this masterwork for trombone and symphonic band.
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Don Lucas Trombone Soloist
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Don Lucas, originally from Falls Church, Virginia, was educated as a
Fulbright Scholar at London's Guildhall School of Music ("Premiere
Prix" and Advanced Solo Studies Diplomas), Texas Tech University (M.M.&
B.M.), North Texas State University, The University of Houston and The
Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA.
Mr. Lucas has performed regularly with The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
(three seasons), Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, the American
Classic Trombone Quartet (founder) and also performed with The Empire
Brass, Minnesota Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, North Carolina
Symphony, New Mexico Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, New England Brass Band
and others.
Internationally, Mr. Lucas has performed recitals as soloist and taught
masterclasses throughout the world, including extensive engagements in the
United Kingdom, Russia and Korea.
In the United States, Mr. Lucas has performed frequently as a soloist,
recitalist, adjudicator and clinician. He has appeared as a soloist at the
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Terrace Theatre at the Kennedy
Center, the Juilliard School, and the Eastman School of Music, to name a
few. He has performed as a soloist with the U.S. Army Orchestra and Band
("Pershing's Own"), the U.S. Naval Academy Band, the West Point
U.S. Military Academy Band, as well as many other bands and orchestras
throughout the United States.
Mr. Lucas' honors include the only Premier Prix Diploma ever awarded
to a brass player in the history of the Guildhall School of Music
(London). Among the many other awards Mr. Lucas has received are the Bronze
Medal L'unamite & Finalist, Toulon International Solo Competition; First
Prize Winner, ITA Frank Smith International Trombone Solo Competition; and
First Place "Fellow", Harmony Ridge Brass Festival.
Mr. Lucas is Trombone Professor and Chair of Woodwinds, Brass and
Percussion at Boston University. Previous teaching appointments include
Texas Tech University, Eastern New Mexico University, Sam Houston State
University & public school teaching in Fairfax County, Virginia, Wake
County, North Carolina, and Brenham & Southland, Texas. Mr. Lucas has
recently been elected as President-Elect of The International Trombone
Association.
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The Concord Band performs at 51 Walden
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A letter from a Wellesley resident to the Boston Globe in early December
caught the eye of your Editor, who also happens to be responsible for
raising funds for the Concord Band. We call your attention to two key
sentences from his letter: "Major players at the top of the nonprofit
sector...are all aggressively growing support, capturing the imagination of
wealthy donors and the public alike with visions that soar to previously
unimaginable heights. Unfortunately, they are breaking new barriers at the
expense of smaller nonprofits."
With an annual budget of about $40,000, the Concord Band is certainly
one of the smaller nonprofits to which the Globe letter referred. On the
other hand, we believe that the mission of the Band makes it as worthy
of both your attention and financial support as are the largest arts
organizations to which you currently contribute.
The Concord Band has three principal objectives. The first objective is
to provide an opportunity for wind and percussion instrumentalists beyond
high school age to continue in their development and enjoyment of their
participation in a large ensemble. Those who go on to college can usually
continue with their musical activities there. Once they have completed
their educations, for all but those who become professional musicians, the
only way to continue to play in a large wind ensemble is to join a community
band. These range in seriousness from the "town marching band and chowder
society" at one extreme to bands like the Concord Band ("the community band
with a professional attitude") at the other. Thus, the Concord Band
represents an outstanding opportunity for the amateur wind or percussion
instrumentalist who takes his or her music seriously. Members of the
Band from more than forty area towns contribute not only a
lot of their time but also substantial financial resources to keep the Band
going.
The second objective of the Concord Band is to provide to the community
an opportunity to hear the finest in concert band music at modest cost
through concerts both in Concord at its permanent home at 51 Walden and at
its summer home at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard.
Music for symphonic wind ensemble, unlike that for orchestra, has no
greater-Boston-based professional ensemble to perform it on a regular
basis. Until recently, the Air Force Band of Liberty was such a
professional organization, but budget cuts have reduced that fine Hanscom
Field-based concert band to 40 members, limiting the literature it has the
personnel to play. The Concord Band does its best to fill that role for
this area. Does the Band succeed in presenting the finest in concert band
music to the community? An independent review of the Band's October, 2006,
concert, appearing in the Concord Journal, begins, "The Concord Band
delivered a splendid concert last Saturday, with fine playing of a program
that shined a spotlight on guest composer and conductor Elliot Del
Borgo."
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Terry Everson trumpet soloist
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To achieve this second objective, in addition to assembling 65 serious
musicians led by a first-rate professional (the Band's Music Director is
Dr. William G. McManus, Associate Professor of Music at Boston University
and Chair of the BU Music Education Department), requires first rate
soloists and guest conductors. Soloists over the years have included
Kenneth Radnofsky, the Back Bay Brass Quintet, Robert Searle, Michelle
French, Silvestro D'Urbano, Frederick Moyer, Gary Spellisey, Phil Wilson,
Natallo Paella, Ronald Barron, Lynn Klock, Terry Everson and Jerry Seeco.
Guest conductors have included such luminaries as Frederick Fennell,
William Revelli, Arnald Gabriel, James Curnow, Steven Grimo, William
H. Silvester, Malcolm W. Rowell and Elliot Del Borgo.
The Concord Band's third principal objective is its commitment to
enlarging the literature for symphonic wind ensemble through the
commissioning of new works. Since 1967 the Band has either commissioned
or has had written for it nearly fifty new works for symphonic wind
ensemble possibly more than any other community band in the
world. Commissioned works have been written by such established composers
as Norman Dello Joio, Peter Hazzard, Richard Cornell, Robert Sirota, John
Bavicchi, Warren Barker, John Higgins, James Curnow, Stephen Bulla, William
Gordon, Lewis Buckley, Julie Giroux and Elliot Del Borgo, as well as the
Band's Music Director Emeritus, William M. Toland, and current
Director, William G. McManus.
Although all of the members of the Concord Band are volunteers (its
Board consists only of Band members), almost all of its activities cost
money. It is rather amazing that the Band can do what it does each year for
not much more than $40,000. Nevertheless, to raise its annual budget, the
Band cannot rely solely on the income from ticket and CD sales and
sponsored concerts. If you agree that the Concord Band is one very small
nonprofit worthy of your attention, please write a check to the Concord
Band for the amount you deem appropriate and mail it in the enclosed
envelope. If you have no return envelope, please send your check to the
address in the masthead of this newsletter.
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Concert attendees who would like a CD of the March 3rd concert will be
asked to complete an order form and leave it in a designated box in the 51
Walden lobby. The prepaid price of $15 per CD includes shipping and
handling. Payments must be received by March 16th. It is anticipated that
the CDs will be mailed in early April.
The March 3rd concert CD will also be of interest to regular Concord
Band audience members who are unable to attend the upcoming Winter
Concert. Simply send your $15 check with your mailing address to the
masthead address, attn: March 3rd CD.
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Concerts will be held at 51 Walden, Concord, at 8:00pm.
Winter Concert
Saturday, March 3,
For tickets call (978) 897-9969
Spring Pops
Friday, April 13,
sponsored by the Rotary Club of Concord.
For tickets call Joan Hale at Shoemaker & Jennings
(978) 369-1500.
Saturday, April 14,
sponsored by the Emerson Hospital Auxiliary.
For tickets call (978) 287-3019
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