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.