The tenth and final concert of the 156th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held Thursday, August 8, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park. The concert will feature a great variety of music, including compositions by Guy Foreman and John Philip Sousa. Guest artists will be soprano Anne Marie Bice, and conductor Richard Liwosz.
The August 8 concert repertoire will be:
Canto by W. Francis McBeth
Peace Like a River Spiritual arr. Robert W. Smith
Selections from Mary Poppins by R. & R. Sherman
Anne Marie Bice, soprano
The Sound of Music by R. Rodgers, O Hammerstein
Anne Marie Bice, soprano
Hoosier Holiday Overture by Guy Foreman
Energy by Adrian Sims Richard Liwosz, conductor
The Northern Pines March by John Philip Sousa
Fantasy for Band by Frank Erickson
America, the Beautiful arr. Carmen Dragon
The Stars and Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa
Guest soprano soloist Anne Marie Bice will sing music from two of the most beloved musicals: Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. 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.
In addition to being outstanding performers, many of the Michigan City Municipal Band members are successful conductors. On five concerts this season, conductors from within the band are being featured, each leading one composition.
On August 8, Richard Liwosz will conduct Energy by Adrian Sims. Mr. Liwosz is a retired music educator from the Michigan City Area Schools. He plays plays clarinet in the Michigan City Municipal Band, Windiana Concert Band, and the all-clarinet ensemble “ACE”. Mr. Liwosz holds degrees from Butler University, Purdue University, and Indiana Wesleyan University.
A native of Seattle, Adrian Sims is an African-American composer and trombonist. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, and is pursuing a graduate degree in composition at the University of Texas at Austin. He has received awards from several young composer festivals, and has had his music performed around the world. Mr. Sims describes Energy as “an electrifying burst from beginning to end.”
The Michigan City Municipal Band will be dedicating its performance of Energy to the memory of Dolores Liwosz. The mother of Richard Liwosz, Mrs. Liwosz passed away on June 30, at the age of 93. A mother, grandmother, wife, nurse, office worker, and volunteer, Mrs. Liwosz was a regular audience member for the Michigan City Municipal Band.
Guy Forrest Foreman was the most important part of the legacy of the Michigan City Municipal Band. He conducted the band for 60 of its first 133 years. Dr. Foreman had seven compositions published by Belwin. His Hoosier Holiday Overture was composed in 1959. Dr. Foreman wrote that “Hoosier Holiday portrays a vacation in the resort area of northern Indiana, along the southern shores of Lake Michigan. The music might suggest the majestic and mysterious dunes country, the romantic moonlight summer evenings, and the march-like rhythms of the band concert in the park.”
John Philip Sousa led the US Marine Band for 12 years, then went on to form his own band that toured the world for another 39 years. Mr. Sousa composed The Northern Pines March in 1931, after a wonderful experience serving as a guest conductor for the National Music Camp at Interlochen in Michigan.
Continuing its tradition of concluding each concert with a patriotic audience sing-along, the Michigan City Municipal Band will close with Carmen Dragon’s famous setting of America, the Beautiful.
The Michigan City Municipal Band sincerely appreciates the citizens, city government, and parks department of Michigan City for supporting the band!
Thanks to our videographer, Ruben Alexander, the Michigan City Municipal Band can be seen on television all year long. For Michigan City area residents, the concerts are broadcast every Wednesday, at 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM, on cable channel 99. The band concerts also air in Fort Wayne.
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.)
Food trucks will be on site for the band concerts. Audience members are encouraged to patronize these local businesses.
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.
The concert will feature two premieres! Michigan City composer Dan Schaaf has written Remembering Naomi to honor Naomi Anderson, African-American suffragist and Michigan City native. Remembering Naomi will be narrated by Michigan City’s Carnessa Carnes.