The second concert of the 155th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held Thursday, June 15, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park.
The June 15 concert repertoire will be:
Jack Tar March by John Philip Sousa
Nabucco Overture by Giuseppe Verdi
I’m a Believer by The Monkees
El Son de La Luna by Jose Quesada
Sunchaser by Carol Brittin Chambers
Children’s Intermezzo by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
A Hymn Tune Rhapsody by Jerry Brubaker
Metal! arr. Sean O’Loughlin
America, the Beautiful arr. Warren Barker
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 will be featured, each leading one composition. On June 15, Caitlyn Coller will conduct Sunchaser by Carol Brittin Chambers. Mrs. Coller teaches music at Kouts Junior and Senior High School. She is a graduate of Valparaiso University and Mishawaka High School. Mrs. Coller plays bass clarinet in the Michigan City Municipal Band and Windiana Concert Band.
John Philip Sousa composed Jack Tar March in 1903, in a tribute to US Navy sailors.
Some audience members will know I’m a Believer as a 1966 hit by The Monkees, while others will know the song from its use in the movie Shrek, as performed by Smash Mouth. Most people don’t know, though, that the song was composed by Neil Diamond.
Composer Carol Brittin Chambers teaches at Texas Lutheran University, and earned degrees from Northwestern University and Tech Tech. Sunchaser is Ms. Chambers’ reflection on the beauty of each day’s dawn, as well as pursuing one’s dreams.
Born in London, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was a black composer who studied at the Royal College of Music, starting at age 15. With influences by African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, as well as ensembles like the Fisk Jubilee Singers, “Coleridge” focused on his African heritage. Children’s Intermezzo is a delightful waltz from the composer’s Othello Suite of 1909.
Jerry Brubaker is the president of the Association of Concert Bands (of which the Michigan City Municipal Band is a member), an accomplished composer, and a former member of the US Navy Band. His A Hymn Tune Rhapsody is an inspiring setting of the hymn that many know as Softly and Tenderly.
Metal! is a compilation of several tuneful and recognizable heavy metal songs from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s: Iron Man, Rock You Like a Hurricane, The Trooper, and Crazy Train.
Continuing its tradition of concluding each concert with a patriotic audience sing-along, the Michigan City Municipal Band will close with Warren Barker’s stirring arrangement of America, the Beautiful.
All of the Michigan City Municipal Band 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. (The $4 fee applies after 7:00p.)
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. 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.