The tenth and final concert of the 158th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held Thursday, August 6, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park. The concert will feature a great variety of music, including compositions by Cole Porter, Stephen Schwartz, Franz von Suppe’, and John Philip Sousa. Guest artists will be soprano Anne Marie Bice and conductor Dakota Maze.
The August 6 concert repertoire will be:
As Time Goes By by Herman Hupfeld, arr. Warren Barker Anne Marie Bice, soprano
Light Cavalry Overture by Franz von Suppe, arr. Henry Fillmore
Defying Gravity by Stephen Schwartz, arr. Jy Bocook Anne Marie Bice, soprano
For Good by Stephen Schwartz, arr. Michael Brown Anne Marie Bice, soprano
A Glorious Summer Day by Satoshi Yagisawa Dakota Maze, conductor
Cole Porter on Broadway arr. Warren Barker
Singing Sands Overture by Guy Foreman
Too Young by Sylvia Dee and Sidney Lippman, arr. Timothy Henderson
Don’t Stop Believin’ by Jonathan Cain, et al, arr. Reid Thomas Anne Marie Bice, soprano
Amber Waves of Grain (America, the Beautiful) by James Curnow
The Stars and Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa
Guest soprano soloist Anne Marie Bice will sing As Time Goes By, the classic 1931 Herman Hupfeld song that became famous in the movie Casablanca. The American Film Institute chose As Time Goes By as second, only to Somewhere Over the Rainbow, in its list of the top 100 songs from the cinema. National Public Radio also named As Time Goes By one of its 100 most culturally and historically significant musical works of the twentieth century. The song has been recorded by dozens of artists, from Billie Holliday to Bob Dylan. Ms. Bice will also sing Journey’s 1981 hit song Don’t Stop Believin’, and two songs from the musical Wicked: For Good and Defying Gravity. 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. In recent years, conductors from within the band have been featured, each leading one composition. On August 6, Dakota Maze will conduct A Glorious Summer Day by Satoshi Yagisawa. Mr. Maze serves as brass instructor at the Culver Military Academy, and is a freelance low brass performer and teacher. He plays tuba and euphonium in the Michigan City Municipal Band and Windiana Concert Band. Mr. Maze earned his undergraduate degree from Valparaiso University.
A Glorious Summer Day is a lovely lyrical selection that fits beautifully with the ambiance of Washington Park. We’re playing this composition in honor of the late Richard Watson, low brass instructor from Valparaiso University and professional low brass performer and teacher, who was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident last summer.
Guy Forrest Foreman, Jr. was perhaps the most important part of the legacy of the Michigan City Municipal Band. He conducted the band for 60 of its first 133 years. Singing Sands Overture was written in 1955, and was the fifth of Dr. Foreman’s seven works to be published by Belwin. Maestro Foreman wrote that Singing Sands Overture was “named for the famous singing sands to be found on the beaches of the Indiana Dunes at the foot of Lake Michigan. The term singing sands comes from the musical murmuring of the countless grains of sand as they are continuously being shifted about by the lake breezes.”
Continuing its tradition of concluding each concert with a patriotic audience sing-along, the Michigan City Municipal Band will close with James Curnow’s Amber Waves of Grain, which is in the form of a “variations and theme.” Throughout the composition, Mr. Curnow weaves snippets of America, the Beautiful, culminating with the audience singing the melody.
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 10:00a and 8:00p, on cable channel 99. The band concerts also air in Fort Wayne.
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 Parks sticker; otherwise, audience members will use the new automated parking procedure (which uses a QR code). The parking rate is $2 per hour in the Senior Center parking lot and Fedder’s Alley.
Jeffrey Scott Doebler is the conductor of the MCMB, and Frank Gast is the assistant conductor. In 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. Gast serves as director of bands at Michigan City High School.
The band’s announcer is Rick Carlson.