ABOUT US

2023 marks the 155th season of the Michigan City Municipal Band.  The 2023 concert series will consist of ten free Thursday concerts, beginning June 8, and ending August 10.  All concerts begin at 7:30p and last about an hour. 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.

Highlights of the summer concert series include special guest soloists and two commissions by award-winning composers. Soloists will be GySgt. Hiram Diaz, euphonium, from the US Marine Band (August 3); and Anne Marie Bice, soprano (June 22 and 29, and July 13). Other soloists and special events will be announced during the season.

The world premiere of Blue Water, Blue Sky by Catherine McMichael will take place on August 3. Also on August 3, the Concerto for Euphonium and Band by Tom Davoren will showcase the band with world-class euphonium soloist GySgt. Hiram Diaz, in three beautiful and dazzling movements.

In addition to being outstanding performers, many of the band members are also successful conductors. Some of those conductors will be featured on individual compositions throughout the summer.

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. He is a past president of the Indiana Bandmasters Association and the Indiana Music Education Association. He is founder and conductor of Windiana: Professional Concert Band of Northwest Indiana. Mr. Ford, principal saxophone in the MCMB, is retired director of bands from Michigan City High School.

2020 Season Cancelled

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Due to health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 concert series of the Michigan City Municipal Band has been canceled.

 

The decision was based on health considerations for the band members. We do not want to put anyone’s health at risk.

 

We measured the performance space in the amphitheater. Following general physical distancing guidelines of at least six feet between people, we would only be able fit about half the band on the stage. (Experts on aerosols are suggesting that nine to fifteen feet between musicians would be safer.)

 

Throughout the pandemic, we have been researching safe practices for musicians and audiences. It would not be difficult for our Washington Park audiences to stay safe, as long as they adhered to physical distancing. Unfortunately, none of the papers, commentaries, or videos released thus far about the aerosol distribution from musical instruments is based on peer-reviewed scientific study. Fortunately, more than 85 professional music associations are collaborating to fund empirical research that will be undertaken at the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of Maryland. Colorado State University is planning a similar inquiry. These studies will commence soon, with Phase One data (individual instruments) ready for initial review in July. Phase Two (instruments in rehearsal rooms and performance spaces) will take place this fall.

 

The Michigan City Municipal Band wishes everyone a happy, safe, and healthy summer. We look forward to the 2021 concert series, which will be our 153rd season. We expect our first concert in 2021 to be Thursday, June 10.

 

The Star-Spangled Banner

The Star-Spangled Banner

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

8-10-23 America the Beautiful

America the Beautiful

O Beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain;
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee.
And crown thy good with brotherhood
from sea to shining sea.

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