The tenth and final concert of the 151st season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will take place Thursday, August 8, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park.
Guest vocal soloist on the August 8 concert will be Tim King, who will sing music from Les Miserables and Titanic. Mr. King has soloed with more than 150 professional ensembles throughout the country. The Santa Barbara CASA Magazine commended Mr. King: “Championing a silken voice, Mr. King…soared through…Maria from West Side Story, delighting further, a now wildly enthusiastic audience….ravishing voice.”
Also performing and soloing with the band will be Staff Sergeant Hiram Diaz, euphonium, from the United States Marine Band, “The President’s Own. The Marine Band bio on SSgt Dias can be found here. SSgt Dias has degrees from the New World School of the Arts in Miama, and the University of Cincinnati College Concervatory of Music, and was a featured soloist on the United States Marine Band 2016 national tour. We’ll feature SSgt Diaz on the famous Napoli Variations by Herman Bellstedt. For an encore, we’ll feature the euphonium section and the woodwind section on the dazzling Melody Shop March by Karl King.
We’ll hear our commissioned work, Sesenta, by award-winning composer Quincy Hilliard, and we’ll honor the legacy of long-time conductor Guy Foreman with Dr. Foreman’s composition Singing Sands Overture.
The Michigan City Municipal Band August 8 concert repertoire will be:
The Star-Spangled Banner
Singing Sands Overture by Guy Foreman
Bring Him Home from Les Miserables
My Heart Will Go On from Titanic
Light Cavalry Overture by Franz von Suppe
A Hymn of Peace by Daniel Chisam
Napoli Variations by Herman Bellstedt
The Melody Shop by Karl King
Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood by Fred Rogers
Sesenta by Quincy Hilliard
Patriotic sing along: God Bless America
Our tradition is to invite the audience to sing with the band at the beginning and ending of each concert. After the opening fanfare, the audience will sing along on The Star-Spangled Banner. Each concert ends with a familiar patriotic selection for the audience to sing.
The MCMB 151st season consists of ten free Thursday concerts, beginning June 6, and ending August 8. All concerts begin at 7:30p and last about an hour. The band plays a wide variety of music, with concerts designed to entertain audience members of all ages.
All of the concerts are free, and everyone is welcome. School band members and young children are especially encouraged to attend. Parking on Lake Shore Drive is prohibited. Parking is available in the lots closest to the amphitheater, as well as the Senior Center. Entrance to the park is free with a Michigan City Park sticker; otherwise, there is a small parking fee.
Jeffrey Scott Doebler is the conductor for the MCMB, and Quincy Ford is the assistant conductor. On November 3, 2018, Dr. Doebler was named a Distinguished Hoosier by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb. Dr. Doebler serves as director of music education and bands at Valparaiso University. He is a past president of the Indiana Bandmasters Association and the Indiana Music Education Association. He is founder and conductor of Windiana: Professional Concert Band of Northwest Indiana. Mr. Ford, principal saxophone in the MCMB, is retired director of bands from Michigan City High School.
The band’s announcer is Rick Carlson.