Sunday, July 29, 2012

The RCB next concert

The next concert I get to tell you about is the Racine Concert Band performance on Sunday August 5.  First, because the sun is going down earlier, the concerts in August will begin at 7:00.  The concerts are still at the band shell in the Racine Zoo.

Joining Maestro Mark Eichner is trumpeter Mark Eichner.  The Music Director will perform Trumpet by Candlelight by Terry Kenny.  Also performing is the trombone section with a fun piece called Frolic for Trombones.

The Sousa March for the evening will be the famous King Cotton, written in 1895 for the Cotton States International Exposition.

Remember the 7 PM start time.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Racine Concert Band concerts

Today at 7:30, the Racine Concert Band will perform at the Racine Zoo.  The concert will include music by American composers Morton Gould and Alfred Reed.  The percussion section will be featured in a piece called Haskell's Rascals.  That will be a lot of fun!

Joining the band will be soprano Aimee Wetenkamp, performing show tunes by George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rogers, Oscar Hammerstein, and Lorenz Hart. She will also sing a song by John Philip Sousa.

And, of course, every Racine Band Concert ends with a rousing march by Sousa.  This week it will be his second most famous march, The Washington Post.

Next week, July 29, the band welcomes former Miss Wisconsin Jeanie Hatfield, performing jazz standards by Burt Bacharach and the Gershwin Brothers.

Chris Tomaloff of the percussion section will perform the fun (and very difficult) Rainbow Ripples on the xylophone.  You don't want to miss that one.

And the Sousa march of the evening is a wonderful march that is not played very often:  The Foshay Tower Washington Memorial March

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Shorewood Concert Band Finale

The last concert of the summer season for the Shorewood Concert Band is Thursday July 19th at 7:00 in Atwater Park, corner of Lake Drive and Capitol Drive in Shorewood.  Maestra Patricia Backhaus has a number of fun pieces and surprises in store.  I know that the band has been rehearsing a serious piece, the First Suite in E-flat by Gustav Holst.  They have been performing one movement at each of the previous concerts.  On Thursday they perform the entire piece.  It is one of the cornerstones of band literature, and one of my favorites.

Be sure to bring a blanket or a lawn chair.  And just in case the weather changes from the heat wave we have had in 2012, you might want to check the weather and bring a sweater or jacket, as Atwater Park is right on the lake.  I attended a concert their two years ago, and a front came down the lake, dropping the temperature into the low 60's by the end of the concert.  What a change!

See you on Thursday.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Upcoming concerts in Racine

The Racine Concert Band will perform the second of their summer series TONIGHT July 8 at 7:30 PM at the band shell on the grounds of the Racine Zoo.  Tonight the music includes the Overture from the Pirates of Penzance by Arthur Sullivan, an evergreen favorite the English Folk Song Suite by Ralph Vaughan Williams, a number of fun marches, and a performance by the Racine Junior Lighthouse Brigade Band.

Also joining the band is Greg Berg, Professor of Music at Gateway Technical College.  He will perform music from Carmen and a song or two by Gershwin. 

The third concert will be Sunday July 15, also at 7:30 PM at the Zoo.  Rick Sunier will perform Mirror Lake on his euphonium, and Eric Weiss will perform Essay in Blue on trumpet.  Also on the program is music by Edvard Grieg, Pierre Leemans, and a march by Sousa.

The concerts continue every Sunday at 7:30 in July and 7:00 in August.  The last concert of this summer season is Sunday August 19.  Be sure to catch at least one, if not all the concerts.  They are a lot of fun and are free!

One more important item:  be sure to enter the Racine Concert Band Quiz every week to have a chance at free prizes at the final concert on August 19th.  A number of local restaurants have donated free dinners for supporters of the band, and the only way you can have a chance at the drawing is to play the Racine Concert Band Quiz.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

A number of items

Lots going on for the 4th

The Racine Concert Band will perform in the Racine parade on the 4th, and perform their weekly concert at the Zoo on Sunday the 8th at 7:30.  The Shorewood Concert Band will perform a special July 4th concert at Atwater Park at 6:30 PM as a part of the Shorewood Family Day Celebration.  And I'll watch my hometown parade in Greenfield to see a subset of the Badger Marching Band perform in the parade down Layton Avenue followed by The Fifth Quarter at Konkel Park right after the parade.  (I bet they have no chops left at the end of the day!)

The Tradition Continues

The Milwaukee American Legion Band has been performing at the Chalet at Humboldt Park as long as I can remember.  They continue that tradition on Tuesday July 3rd at 6:30 PM.  The band will present an old fashioned concert in the park with movie music, show tunes, marches and light classics.

And the lakefront fireworks will be begin at 9:30, so you will have plenty of time after the concert to find a great place to watch the fireworks! 

There is a lot going on this week.  Enjoy the celebration of your freedom!