The seventh concert of the 156th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held Thursday, July 18, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park.

The July 18 concert repertoire will be:

Bonnie Annie Laurie March by John Philip Sousa

A Hymn of Peace by Daniel Chisam

Annie Laurie Scottish Air

The Sound of Music by Ricahrd Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein

Big Band Favorites arr. Robert Lowden

O Ye That Love the Lord by Samuel Coleridge Taylor

America the Beautiful arr. Carmen Dragon

Selections from the Music Man by Meredith Willson

God Bless America by Irving Berlin

Special guest artist will be soprano soloist Lauren Hartman. Dr. Hartman serves at Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay, Florida, where she teaches choir for grades four through twelve. She holds three degrees in voice performance: University of Miami (D.M.A.), University of Northern Iowa (M.M.), and Simpson College (B.M.). Dr. Hartman is active as a professional vocalist and church musician (vocalist, pianist, children’s choir director). She has been a frequent vocal soloist with the Miami Sousa Band and Windiana Concert Band, including Windiana tours in China and Italy. In 2022, Dr. Hartman served as a guest conductor, vocalist, and pianist with Windiana at Carnegie Hall. This month, Dr. Hartman is in residence at Valparaiso University, serving as Operations Manager for Lutheran Summer Music, the national high school music academy and festival.

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 are being featured, each leading one composition. On July 18, the Honorable Kathleen Lang will conduct Carmen Dragon’s stirring arrangement of America, the Beautiful. Kathleen Lang serves Indiana as a Senior Judge. She is also an adjunct professor of law at the University of Notre Dame and Chicago-Kent College of Law. Judge Lang earned the Juris Doctor degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, and the Bachelor of Music Education degree from Northern Illinois University. In addition to the Michigan City Municipal Band, she plays horn in the LaPorte County Symphony Orchestra and Windiana Concert Band. She also plays bagpipes and alphorn!

We’re playing Big Band Favorites to honor active member trombonist Steve Watson for his 56 years of service to the Michigan City Municipal Band. The medley includes I’m Getting’ Sentimental Over You, Here’s that Rainy Day, Stompin’ at the Savoy, In the Mood, and Woodchopper’s Ball.

Another fun medley on the program will be Selections from the Music Man by Meredith Willson. This compilation contains The Wells Fargo Wagon, Lida Rose, Marian the Librarian, and Seventy-six Trombones.

The MCMB will continue its tradition of closing each concert with a patriotic audience sing-along. Irving Berlin’s God Bless America allows us to enthusiastically honor our great nation.

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 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.

The sixth concert of the 156th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held on Thursday, July11, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park. The band plays a variety of music to entertain audience members of all ages. All concerts are free and everyone is welcome. Jeffrey Scott Doebler is the conductor and Quincy Ford is the assistant conductor. Dr. Doebler serves as director of music education at Valparaiso University. Mr. Ford, principal saxophone in the MCMB, retired director of bands and music department chair at Michigan City High School. Quincy Ford will lead the band this week.

The July 11 concert program will include:

King Cotton by John Philip Sousa
Suite of Old American Dances by Robert Russell Bennett
I. Cake Walk II. Schottische III. Western One-Step
April by Aaron Perrine
Music for A Summer Night by Glenn Osser
Despacito arranged Paul Murtha
Ghostbusters Ray Parker Jr. arranged Doug Adams
Hands Across the Sea by John Philip Sousa arranged Keith Brion and Loras Schissel

Continuing its tradition of concluding each concert with a patriotic audience sing-along, the Michigan City Municipal Band will close with This Is My Country arranged by Hawley Ades.

The MCMB156th season consists of ten free Thursday concerts, ending August 8. The concerts begin at 7:30p and last about an hour. Parking is available in the lots closest to the amphitheater, as well as the Michigan 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.

Rick Carlson, principal trumpet for MCMB, will be the announcer.

The fourth concert of the 156th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held Thursday, June 27, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park.

Special guest artists will be Anne Marie Bice, soprano soloist; and Jared Coller, xylophone soloist. In honor of Independence Day the following week, the MCMB will play several selections to honor our country.

The June 27 concert repertoire will be:

Choose Joy by Randall Standridge
Yesterday by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
They Can’t Take That Away from Me by George and Ira Gershwin
High Intensity by Chandler Wilson
Star Spangled Spectacular by George M. Cohan
Xylophone Rags by George Hamilton Green
A Prayer for Peace by John Williams
A Patriotic Festival by Mark Williams
The Stars and Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa

Guest soprano soloist, Anne Marie Bice, will sing two contrasting and well-known songs: Yesterday by The Beatles, and the 1937 popular tune They Can’t Take That Away From Me. This Gershwin standard was first performed by Fred Astaire, singing to Ginger Rogers in the film Shall We Dance. 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.

Guest xylophone soloist, Jared Coller, is a professional percussionist who serves as Education Manager for the LaPorte County Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Coller is former director of bands at Rensselaer High School and Middle School. He is a graduate of Valparaiso University, and an endorsing artist for Artifact Percussion and Soultone Cymbals. Mr. Coller will perform the Xylophone Rags of George Hamilton Green. Mr. Green was known as the “world’s greatest xylophonist.” He started recording in 1916. He was also on the sound recording crew for Walt Disney’s first three cartoons. Later in his life, Mr. Green pursued a successful career as a cartoonist himself.

Randall Standridge earned degrees from Arkansas State University, and is the founder of the extremely-popular music publishing company, Randall Standridge Music. Choose Joy is just as the title suggests: a joyful celebration of life. The composition contains snippets of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. It was commissioned to honor the life of a band student who died from cancer. The student and her family selected the motto “Choose Joy” to maintain a positive attitude during that terrible time.

Dr. Chandler Wilson is an African-American composer and a native of Miami. He serves on the music faculty at Florida State University, the institution where he earned his doctoral degree in music education. In High Intensity, Dr. Wilson uses syncopation, quick tempo, accented articulations, and driving rhythms to maintain great energy throughout the composition.

Known to some as “Mr. Broadway” or “The Man Who Owned Broadway”, George M. Cohan wrote more than 50 shows and 300 songs, many of which are standards in honoring our country. In recognition of Mr. Cohan’s contribution to national morale during World War I, President Franklin Roosevelt presented him with the Congressional Gold Medal. The medley of George M. Cohan music, entitled Star Spangled Spectacular, contains Mary’s a Grand Old Name, Give My Regards to Broadway, Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and You’re a Grand Old Flag.

John Williams composed A Prayer for Peace for Munich, the 2005 Steven Spielberg film that recounted the 1972 massacre of eleven Israeli athletes at the Summer Olympics in Germany. John Williams’ music was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Continuing its tradition of concluding each concert with a patriotic audience sing-along, the Michigan City Municipal Band will close with Mark Williams’ inspiring medley of national songs: A Patriotic Festival.

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 third concert of the 156th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held Thursday, June 20, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park.

Special guest artists will be ACE Group (All Clarinet Ensemble).

The June 20 concert repertoire will be:

Manhattan Beach March by John Philip Sousa (ACE Group with MCMB)

Beatles Medley for Clarinet Choir (ACE Group alone)

Espionage by Grant Horsley (ACE Group with MCMB clarinet section)

Boomwhackers® Ballet by Michael Boo (ACE Group with MCMB)

Bravada Paso Doble by Frederic Curzon

Lift Up Your Heads by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Eire by Melanie Donahue (Sarah DeRossi, conductor)

Peace Song by Timothy Broege

Poet and Peasant Overture by Franz von Suppe’ (honoring retiring band member Merry Johnson)

A Patriotic Festival arr. Mark Williams

The Michigan City Municipal band is thrilled to welcome the ACE Group. “ACE” stands for “All Clarinet Ensemble.” ACE’s instrumentation includes clarinets from the small Eb soprano clarinet, all the way down to the lowest contrabass clarinet. ACE Group is based in the South Bend area, and is led by retired music educator Dennis Gamble.

The ACE Group will perform one selection on their own, one piece combined with the eleven-member clarinet section of the Michigan City Municipal Band, and two compositions with the full Michigan City Municipal Band.

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 are being featured, each leading one composition. On June 20, Sarah DeRossi will conduct Eire by Melanie Donahue. Ms. DeRossi serves as one of the band teachers in the Valparaiso Community Schools. A native of Tinley Park, Illinois, she is a graduate of Valparaiso University. Ms. DeRossi plays piccolo and flute in the Michigan City Municipal Band and Windiana Concert Band. When Eire was published in 2007, Melanie Donahue was acclaimed as the first female band composer in the Alfred Publishing catalog. A native of New Hampshire, Ms. Donahue graduated from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. She describes Eire as a musical portrait of Ireland.

Manhattan Beach March was composed by John Philip Sousa 1893, during the summer of the Sousa Band’s first year. The Sousa Band played daily concerts at the Manhattan Beach resort in New York. Manhattan Beach March has some interesting effects, including clarinets imitating ocean waves in the third section of the piece. It is likely that Manhattan Beach March was played in Michigan City on the Sousa Band’s 1914 and 1924 tours, as the programs list Manhattan Beach March as one of the regular encores.

Boomwhackers® Ballet was composed by the late Michael Boo of Chesterton. It’s a catchy novelty number that allows the band to feature any instrument or section in the band. For June 20, we’ll have the ACE Group join the Michigan City Municipal Band for lots of fun, featuring clarinets galore!

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. Based on Psalm 24: 7-8, Lift Up Your Heads is a beautiful choral anthem from 1892.

We’re playing Poet and Peasant Overture to honor MCMB flutist Merry Johnson. Merry has recently retired from the MCMB after serving in the band for 42 years. Austrian composer Franz von Suppe’ completed Poet and Peasant Overture in 1846. It comes from an operetta about a young lady who inherits a fortune. Of course, there is a stipulation to receive the inheritance: she must marry a specific wealthy landowner. As you might expect, the young lady is actually in love with a poet. Much drama ensues, but by the end of the operetta, the young lady and the poet are united.

Continuing its tradition of concluding each concert with a patriotic audience sing-along, the Michigan City Municipal Band will close with Mark Williams’ inspiring medley of national songs: A Patriotic Festival.

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 second concert of the 156th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held Thursday, June 13, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park.

The June 13 concert repertoire will be:

West Point March by Philip Egner
Let There Be Peace on Earth by Sy Miller and Jill Jackson
Poor Wayfaring Stranger arranged by Herbert Fred
Oblivion by Astor Piazzola
Phoenix by Tyler Arcari
Cloud Nine by Lauren Bernofsky
Nostalgia in the Air by Kelijah Dunton, with Bridget Flory, conductor
Mancini! By Henry Mancini
America, the Beautiful arr. Warren Barker

Guest soprano soloist, Anne Marie Bice, will sing two meaningful and well-known songs: the popular Let There Be Peace on Earth and the haunting folksong Poor Wayfaring Stranger. 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.

West Point March was composed by military bandsman Lt. Philip Egner. It contains snippets of more than a half dozen famous military tunes. West Point March is an example of a composition that was requested last summer by one of our audience members.

Astor Piazzola was an Argentine composer who was famous for tangos. Oblivion is a tango that demonstrates the stylistic versatility of our band members. We’re playing Oblivion to honor active Michigan City Municipal Band members oboist Susan Smith and clarinetist Roger Smith, for their many decades of service to the band. Between the two in this wife and husband team, they have played in the Michigan City Municipal Band for 126 years!

Composer Tyler Arcari is Instrumental Music Editor for Excelcia Music Publishing. He wrote Phoenix to depict the fiery bird from Greek mythology.

Lauren Bernofsky is an acclaimed musician who earned a doctoral degree in composition from Boston University. Cloud Nine was written to share joyfulness and exuberance. Dr. Bernofsky achieved this by alternating rhythms between groups of three and groups of two.

Conducting Nostalgia in the Air by Kelijah Dunton will be Bridget Flory. Ms. Flory plays saxophone in the Michigan City Municipal Band and Windiana Concert Band. She serves as director of bands for the River Forest Schools. A native of Valparaiso, Ms. Flory earned her bachelor’s degree in music education from Ball State University. Kelijah Dunton is an African-American composer, based in New York City. He’s been creating music since he was a high school student and already has nearly 20 publications. Nostalgia in the Air is a lyrical and gentle selection. Mr. Dunton’s notes on Nostalgia in the Air describe the work as conveying “the feeling we all share when remembering the fondest of memories—a day or a time where we most enjoyed being alive.”

Henry Mancini was one of America’s most successful composers, having had countless hits, and winning four Academy Awards and 20 Grammy Awards. Stephen Bulla’s Mancini! arrangement includes several of Henry Mancini’s most recognizable hits: The Pink Panther, Moon River, Baby Elephant Walk, and Peter Gunn.

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.)

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 Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will begin its 156th season on Thursday, June 6, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park.

The MCMB’s 156th season will consist of ten free concerts, beginning June 6, and ending August 8. The band plays a wide variety of music, with concerts designed to entertain audience members of all ages. The MCMB also plays for the annual Memorial Day ceremony at Greenwood Cemetery, and in the Michigan City Patriotic Parade. With one exception, all of the concerts will be performed at 7:30p Thursdays, and will last about an hour. During the week of Independence Day, the concert will take place on Saturday, July 6, at the recently-renovated gazebo near the entrance to Washington Park. The rededication ceremony will take place at 6:00p, followed by the band concert at 7:00.

Highlights of the summer concert series include special guest soloists and three commissions by award-winning composers. Guest artists will be GySgt. Hiram Diaz, euphonium, from the US Marine Band (August 1); Carnessa Carnes, narrator (August 1); Anne Marie Bice, soprano (June 13 and 27, and August 8), Dr. Lauren Hartman, soprano (July 18); Jared Coller, xylophone (June 27); and the ACE Group Clarinet Choir (June 20). Other soloists and special events will be announced during the season.

In addition to being outstanding performers, many of the MCMB members are successful conductors. Some of those conductors will be featured on individual compositions throughout the summer. We’ll also recognize four of our long-time band members—Mary Lee Riley, Roger Smith, Susan Smith, Steve Watson—and our recently-retired band member, Merry Johnson, by playing one selection each in their honor.

The world premiere of Reservation Band by Brent Michael Davids will take place on June 6. August 1 will be especially exciting, with two premieres! Michigan City composer Dan Schaaf has written Remembering Naomi to honor Naomi Anderson, African-American suffragette and Michigan City Native. Naomi’s words will be narrated by Michigan City’s Carnessa Carnes. And a new concerto by Dr. Kimberly Archer will showcase the band with world-class euphonium soloist GySgt. Hiram Diaz from the US Marine Band, “The President’s Own.”

Composer Brent Michael Davids is the famous Native American composer who has written for ensembles and films, and has been commissioned by the Joffrey Ballet and the National Symphony Orchestra. Having performed other compositions by Brent Michael Davids, the Michigan City Municipal Band is honored that Mr. Davids accepted our offer to write Reservation Band. In his program notes for the composition, Mr. Davids said “I wrote Reservation Band as a tribute to Indigenous people living within tribal bands, and—equally—to salute musicians who perform in bands, on or off the reservation.”

The June 6 concert repertoire will be:

The Belle of Chicago March by John Philip Sousa
Song for Terra by Yukiko Nishimura
Reservation Band (premiere) by Brent Michael Davids
The Hoosier Slide by Hale VanderCook
YMCA by The Village People
Vuelo by Salvador Alan Jacobo
American Riversongs by Pierre LaPlante, with Andria Kessler, conductor
Railroad Suite by Lyndol Mitchell
My America arr. Joyce Eilers

Yukiko Nishimura is a Japanese-American composer from California. She studied at Tokyo University, the University of Miami, and the Manhattan School of Music. Song for Terra is a gentle and lyrical composition that demonstrates the beautiful blended sound of the concert band. About the work, Ms. Nishimura wrote: “This composition is a peace song…I wanted to create something for this planet where we could live in a peaceful mind.”

After Guy Foreman—who led the Michigan City Municipal Band for an astonishing 60 years!—perhaps the most famous conductor in the band’s history was Hale VanderCook (1864-1949), who was conductor of the Michigan City Municipal Band for several years in the early part of the 20th century. Mr. VanderCook went on to found the VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. The Hoosier Slide (1906) features the trombone section in the style of a Ragtime “trombone smear.” The Hoosier Slide was a giant sand dune in Michigan City—200 feet high—on the site that is currently the location of the Michigan City Generating Station of the Northern Indiana Public Service Corporation. The dune was a popular tourist destination, both for its views and for sliding down its face. Unfortunately, The Hoosier Slide was mined for sand to make glass, and the dune was completely gone by 1920.

Disco fans will enjoy singing and dancing along to The Village People’s 1978 hit, Y.M.C.A. A chart-topping song around the world, Y.M.C.A. was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2020.

For Vuelo, composer Salvador Jacobo was inspired by “…seeing birds and planes flying through the sky, zooming past and through towering clouds.”

Conducting American Riversongs by Pierre LaPlante will be Andria Kessler. Ms. Kessler plays oboe and English horn in the Michigan City Municipal Band and Windiana Concert Band. She is one of the band conductors in the Valparaiso Community Schools. A native of Valparaiso, Ms. Kessler earned her bachelor’s degree in music education from Butler University. She is pursuing a master’s degree in conducting at Colorado State University.

Lyndol Mitchell’s Railroad Suite contains five famous folksongs associated with the railroad. We’re playing Railroad Suite to honor active Michigan City Municipal Band clarinetist Mary Lee Riley, for her many decades of service to the band.

Finally, the MCMB will continue its tradition of closing each concert with a patriotic audience sing-along. Joyce Eiler’s arrangement of America (My Country ‘tis of Thee) allows us to enthusiastically honor our great nation.

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 for the band concert.

Jeffrey Scott Doebler is the conductor for the MCMB, and Quincy Ford 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. 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 tenth and final concert of the 155th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held Thursday, August 10, 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.

The August 10 concert repertoire will be:

Castle House Rag by James Reese Europe
The Bonsai Tree by Julie Giroux
Take on Me arr. Paul Murtha
Singing Sands Overture by Guy Foreman
Mars and Venus from Looking Upward Suite by John Philip Sousa
Mi Nata by Jose Quesada
The Golden Mustang Concert March by Michael Boo
Motown Revue arr. Paul Murtha
Audience sing-along: America, the Beautiful arr. Carmen Dragon
The Stars and Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa

James Reese Europe was the first African American bandmaster in the US Army. Before World War I, Mr. Europe was a successful band leader and composer in the USA, earning the nickname “The King of Jazz”, and he led the first concert by African Americans at Carnegie Hall in 1912. Maestro Europe went on to lead a renowned military band in Europe during World War I. Upon his death in 1919, Lieutenant Europe was the first African American in New York City to have a public funeral, and he was then laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Castle House Rag showcases the Ragtime style. The United States military band of Lieutenant James Reese Europe is believed to have played the first Ragtime music in France.

The Bonsai Tree honors a 500-year-old Bonsai tree that is considered one of Japan’s treasures. Composer Julie Giroux received her formal education from Louisiana State University and Boston University. In 1985, she began composing, orchestrating, and conducting music for television and films. When Ms. Giroux won her first Emmy Award, she was the first woman, and the youngest person ever, to win the award in that category. The Bonsai Tree demonstrates the beautiful blended tones of the concert band.

Take on Me is the classic 1984 pop tune by the Norwegian synth-pop band A-ha. It accompanied a ground-breaking music video.

Guy Forrest Foreman 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.”

John Philip Sousa led the US Marine Band for 12 years, then went on toContinue reading→

The ninth concert of the 155th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held Thursday, August 3, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park. The concert will feature euphonium soloist Hiram Diaz, and will also present the premiere of the MCMB’s 2023 commission, Blue Water, Blue Sky by Catherine McMichael.

In the case of inclement weather, the concert will be held in the auditorium of Michigan City High School, 8466 W. Pahs Road.

The August 3 concert repertoire will be:

Pride of the Marines March by Austyn R. Edwards
Concerto for Euphonium and Band by Tom Davoren
Sobre Las Ojas (Over the Waves) by Juventino Rosas
The Basses are Loaded by Kelly Bennette
Tripwire by JaRod Hall
Blue Water, Blue Sky by Catherine McMichael (premiere)
Pax by Catherine McMichael
Born to Be Wild by Mars Bonfire, arr. Johnnie Vinson
Audience sing-along: My America arr. Joyce Eilers

Hiram Diaz grew up in Miami. He graduated from Miami’s New World School of the Arts, then earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He joined the US Marine Band, “The President’s Own,” in 2012. He is co-leader of the Marine Band’s Latin Jazz Ensemble. GySgt. Diaz will be playing Concerto for Euphonium and Band by award-winning composer Tom Davoren. The Michigan City Municipal Band commissioned Mr. Davoren to write this three-movement composition.

Catherine McMichael lives in Saginaw, Michigan. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Michigan. Mrs. McMichael teaches at Saginaw Valley State University and also leads the handbell choir at First United Methodist Church in Saginaw. She is an active composer of music for band, choir, orchestra, handbells, individual instruments, and chamber ensembles. A few of her recent commissions include The Canadian Brass, Saginaw Bay Orchestra, Chautauqua Institution, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and the New England Conservatory.

Blue Water, Blue Sky contains beautiful themes that represent Lake Michigan, the blue sky at Washington Park, and even an original sea shanty for the band. Pax is a gentle and reflective composition that allows us to envision peaceful sounds and a peaceful world.

Austyn R. Edwards (1891-1977) was a professional trumpet player who taught brass instruments at Valparaiso University, and was conductor of the band at the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant in LaPorte County. In addition to 55 marches, including Pride of the Marines, Mr. Edwards was the author of two important method books for trumpet.

Juventino Rosas (1868-1894) was a Mexican composer and violinst. His composition, Sobre Las Ojas (Over the Waves), is a smooth waltz that audience members will recognize from its frequent use as background music for trapeze artists in the circus.

Kelly Bennette’s composition The Basses are Loaded is a comical way to proclaim that the lowest voices in the band have the melody. Mr. Bennette is professional tuba player and retired music educator with nearly 100 compositions to his credit.

Also from Texas, JaRod Hall is music educator, composer, and professional tuba player. In his program notes from Tripwire, Mr. Hall suggests that the audience imagine “…a team of bandits who must escape a secret hideout without being Continue reading→

El Capitan by John Philip Sousa, arr. Keith Brion and Loras Schissel

Marche Militaire Francaise by Camille Saint-Saens, arr. M. L. Lake

Ancient Flower by Yukiko Nishimura

Sondheim! by Stephen Sondheim, arr. Stephen Bulla

Best of the West!, arr. Michael Story

American Barndance by Richard Saucedo

Enter Sandman by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett, arr. Paul Murtha

Armed Forces Salute arr. Bob Lowden

Block M (Concert March) by Jerry Bilik

This Is My Country by Don Raye and Al Jacobs, arr. Hawley Ades

The seventh concert of the 155th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band (MCMB) will be held on Thursday, July 20, 7:30p, at the Guy F. Foreman Bicentennial Amphitheater in Washington Park. The band plays a variety of music to entertain audience members of all ages. All concerts are free and everyone is welcome. Jeffrey Scott Doebler is the conductor for MCMB and Quincy Ford is the assistant conductor. Dr. Doebler serves as director of music education at Valparaiso University. Mr. Ford, principal saxophone in the MCMB, is retired director of bands and Music Department Chair at Michigan City High School. Quincy Ford will lead the band this week.

The July 20 concert program will include:

Midway March by John Williams, arr. John Moss
Rejouissance (Fantasia on Ein Feste Burg- A Mighty Fortress Is Our God) by James Curnow
O Nata Lux by Guy Forbes, arr. Preston Hazzard
Latin Celebration (Brazil, Besame Mucho, Perfidia, Mambo Jumbo), arr John Tatgenhorst
Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond, arr. Tim Waters
Music from “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, arr. Michael Brown
Kentucky Trotter by Frank Perkins
Stand-By March by Louis Castellucci
This Land Is Your Land by Woodie Guthrie, arr. John Warrington

Our tradition is to invite the band to sing 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 song for the audience to sing. The lyrics to each song are posted on the MCMB’s Facebook page and can be accessed on your smartphone.

The MCMB 155th season consists of ten free Thursday concerts, ending August 10. All concerts begin at 7:30p and last about an hour. Parking is available in the lots closest to the amphitheater, as well as the Michigan City Senior Center. Entrance to the park is free with a Michigan City Park sticker, otherwise there is a small fee.

Rick Carlson, principal trumpet for MCMB will be the announcer.