The fourth concert of the 151st season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will take place Thursday, June 27, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park.

Guest soloist on the June 27 concert will be Anne Bice, voice professor from Valparaiso University. Ms. Bice has extensive performance experience and sings in a wide variety of styles. Prof. Bice will sing music by George and Ira Gershwin, and music made popular by Nat King Cole.

Andria Kessler, oboe and English horn player in the Michigan City Municipal Band, will conduct a medley from the popular film, The Greatest Showman. Ms. Kessler is one of the band conductors in the Valparaiso Community Schools.

The MCMB welcomes suggestions for repertoire. Requests received last summer to be performed on June 27 include music by jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke and the Swedish popular music group Abba.

The June 27 concert repertoire will be:

The Star-Spangled Banner
Bix Beiderbecke in Concert
Music from The Greatest Showman
Embraceable You by George and Ira Gershwin
They Can’t Take That Away from Me by George and Ira Gershwin
That Sunday That Summer, made popular by Nat King Cole
Abba on Broadway
Let There Be Peace on Earth
Right Left March by John Philip Sousa
Patriotic sing along: America, the Beautiful

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. (During the week of Independence Day, the concert will be held on Friday, July 5.) 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.