The seventh concert of the 156th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held Thursday, July 18, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park.
The July 18 concert repertoire will be:
Bonnie Annie Laurie March by John Philip Sousa
A Hymn of Peace by Daniel Chisam
Annie Laurie Scottish Air
The Sound of Music by Ricahrd Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein
Big Band Favorites arr. Robert Lowden
O Ye That Love the Lord by Samuel Coleridge Taylor
America the Beautiful arr. Carmen Dragon
Selections from the Music Man by Meredith Willson
God Bless America by Irving Berlin
Special guest artist will be soprano soloist Lauren Hartman. Dr. Hartman serves at Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay, Florida, where she teaches choir for grades four through twelve. She holds three degrees in voice performance: University of Miami (D.M.A.), University of Northern Iowa (M.M.), and Simpson College (B.M.). Dr. Hartman is active as a professional vocalist and church musician (vocalist, pianist, children’s choir director). She has been a frequent vocal soloist with the Miami Sousa Band and Windiana Concert Band, including Windiana tours in China and Italy. In 2022, Dr. Hartman served as a guest conductor, vocalist, and pianist with Windiana at Carnegie Hall. This month, Dr. Hartman is in residence at Valparaiso University, serving as Operations Manager for Lutheran Summer Music, the national high school music academy and festival.
In addition to being outstanding performers, many of the Michigan City Municipal Band members are also successful conductors. On five concerts this season, conductors from within the band are being featured, each leading one composition. On July 18, the Honorable Kathleen Lang will conduct Carmen Dragon’s stirring arrangement of America, the Beautiful. Kathleen Lang serves Indiana as a Senior Judge. She is also an adjunct professor of law at the University of Notre Dame and Chicago-Kent College of Law. Judge Lang earned the Juris Doctor degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, and the Bachelor of Music Education degree from Northern Illinois University. In addition to the Michigan City Municipal Band, she plays horn in the LaPorte County Symphony Orchestra and Windiana Concert Band. She also plays bagpipes and alphorn!
We’re playing Big Band Favorites to honor active member trombonist Steve Watson for his 56 years of service to the Michigan City Municipal Band. The medley includes I’m Getting’ Sentimental Over You, Here’s that Rainy Day, Stompin’ at the Savoy, In the Mood, and Woodchopper’s Ball.
Another fun medley on the program will be Selections from the Music Man by Meredith Willson. This compilation contains The Wells Fargo Wagon, Lida Rose, Marian the Librarian, and Seventy-six Trombones.
The MCMB will continue its tradition of closing each concert with a patriotic audience sing-along. Irving Berlin’s God Bless America allows us to enthusiastically honor our great nation.
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 parking fee of $4 for the band concert.
Jeffrey Scott Doebler is the conductor for the MCMB, and Quincy Ford is the assistant conductor. Dr. Doebler serves as director of music education and bands at Valparaiso University. Mr. Ford, principal saxophone in the MCMB, is retired director of bands and music department chair from Michigan City High School.
The band’s announcer is Rick Carlson.
Guest soprano soloist, Anne Marie Bice, will sing two meaningful and well-known songs: the popular Let There Be Peace on Earth and the haunting folksong Poor Wayfaring Stranger. Ms. Bice is a voice professor from Valparaiso University. She has extensive performance experience, sings in a wide variety of styles, and has been soloing with the Michigan City Municipal Band since 2015.
James Reese Europe was the first African American bandmaster in the US Army. Before World War I, Mr. Europe was a successful band leader and composer in the USA, earning the nickname “The King of Jazz”, and he led the first concert by African Americans at Carnegie Hall in 1912. Maestro Europe went on to lead a renowned military band in Europe during World War I. Upon his death in 1919, Lieutenant Europe was the first African American in New York City to have a public funeral, and he was then laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Castle House Rag showcases the Ragtime style. The United States military band of Lieutenant James Reese Europe is believed to have played the first Ragtime music in France.
Hiram Diaz grew up in Miami. He graduated from Miami’s New World School of the Arts, then earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He joined the US Marine Band, “The President’s Own,” in 2012. He is co-leader of the Marine Band’s Latin Jazz Ensemble. GySgt. Diaz will be playing Concerto for Euphonium and Band by award-winning composer Tom Davoren. The Michigan City Municipal Band commissioned Mr. Davoren to write this three-movement composition.
Blue Water, Blue Sky contains beautiful themes that represent Lake Michigan, the blue sky at Washington Park, and even an original sea shanty for the band. Pax is a gentle and reflective composition that allows us to envision peaceful sounds and a peaceful world.