The eighth concert of the 157th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held Thursday, July 24, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park.
Guest artists will be soprano soloist Anne Marie Bice, and piccolo trumpeters Charles Steck and Ryan Rabe. Guest conductor for two selections will be Paul Wagner. The band will premiere a commission by Michele Fernandez.
The July 24 concert repertoire will be:
Pride of the Mid-West March by Austyn Edwards
Concerto in Bb for Two Trumpets by Antonio Vivaldi
Charles Steck and Ryan Rabe, trumpet
Be Still My Soul by Jean Sibelius – Paul Wagner, conductor
A Century of Progress March by John Philip Sousa – Paul Wagner, conductor
Cinderella Overture by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein – Anne Marie Bice, soprano
Moon River by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer – Anne Marie Bice, soprano
Folk Songs of Britain by Guy Foreman
Yearning to Breathe Free by Michele Fernandez (premiere)
God Bless America by Irving Berlin
Michele Fernandez has become one of the band world’s most popular composers. She lives in Miami, and is a retired music educator. Among her areas of expertise is writing authentic Latin and Afro-Latin rhythms. The Michigan City Municipal Band commissioned Mrs. Fernandez to compose Yearning to Breathe Free. The work honors The Statue of Liberty and has sections titled “Longing”, “Dignity”, and “Mercy.” The composition contains exciting Latin rhythms, some with origins in Cuba. Yearning to Breathe Free has already been selected for performance in December by the Louisville Winds at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. “Midwest” is the largest and most prestigious band and orchestra convention in the world.
Charles Steck is the trumpet professor at Valparaiso University and serves as conductor of the LaPorte City Band. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education at Valparaiso University. Ryan Rabe is a music graduate of St. Norbert College and a former music educator. He serves as a landscape technician and director of the Beacon Pep Band at Valparaiso University. Messrs. Steck and Rabe will be playing piccolo trumpets on Concerto in Bb for Two Trumpets by Antonio Vivaldi. The concerto is believed to have been composed in Venice during the 1720s. The piccolo trumpet sounds an octave higher than a standard trumpet.
Guest soprano soloist, Anne Marie Bice, will sing the classic Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer song Moon River. She’ll also sing music from the 1957 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Cinderella, including Cinderella March, Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful, Impossible, In My Own Little Corner, and Ten Minutes Ago. Prof. Bice 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 or two compositions. Paul Wagner will conduct Be Still My Soul, a hymn based on Finlandia by Jean Sibelius, and A Century of Progress March by John Philip Sousa. The march was composed in 1931, in anticipation of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. Mr. Wagner is a choir teacher at the Hammond Arts and Performance Academy. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas. In addition to the Michigan City Municipal Band, he plays bassoon in Windiana Concert Band.
Pride of the Mid-West March was composed in 1953 by Austyn Edwards.
Mr. Edwards was a professional trumpet player who taught brass instruments at Valparaiso University. During World War II, he was conductor of the band at the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant in LaPorte County. In addition to 55 marches, including Pride of the Mid-West, Mr. Edwards was the author of two important method books for trumpet.
Dr. Guy Forrest Foreman was conductor of the Michigan City Municipal Band for an incredible 60 years! Dr. Foreman was also a music educator in LaPorte for 35 years. He died in 2017. During his career, Dr. Foreman had seven compositions and arrangements published. Folk Songs of Britain was arranged by Dr. Foreman in 1958. Within the setting, we will hear Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes; Flow Gently, Sweet Afton; and The Girl I Left Behind Me.
Continuing its tradition of concluding each concert with a patriotic audience sing-along, the Michigan City Municipal Band will close with Irving Berlin’s patriotic anthem God Bless America.
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 ($8 for buses) 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.