Sunday, September 22, 2013

Concert Preview: Milwaukee Festival Brass


The Milwaukee Festival Brass opens its 2013-2014 season with a concert titled, “Road Trip.”   Conjuring up memories of excursions to destinations both far and near, this fun and enjoyable program will recall the spirit of adventure and discovery inherent in every journey.

“Road trips can bring us to the familiar, like a family cabin at the lake,” said Music Director Mark A. Taylor, “or they can enter uncharted territory, opening us up to new landscapes and new experiences.”

The concert will include two arrangements by noted British brass composer Goff Richards: his sparkling variations on Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home and a soulful rendition of Hoagy Carmichael’s Georgia On My Mind.  Also on the program will be a stirring transcription of Respighi’s Pines of the Appian Way from The Pines of Rome, a classic British street march by William Rimmer, and Howard Snell’s Latin-American travelogue, Postcard from Mexico 

Framing the program will be two significant works that are recent additions to the brass band repertoire.  Rodney Newton’s Four Cities Symphony calls to mind the Victorian-era “Grand Tour” of Europe, stopping in London, Paris, Rome, and Moscow in turn.  Alan Fernie’s lushly romantic Landscape and Journey was inspired by the composer’s idyllic vacations spent in the small Swiss village of Gurtnellen, southeast of Lucerne.

The Milwaukee Festival Brass will present “Road Trip” on Saturday, October 26, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at Emanuel United Church of Christ, 110627 West Forest Home Avenue in Hales Corners, WI.  Tickets are $12, or $9 for seniors and students.  Group rates are available.  For more information, please visit the band’s website at www.mfbrass.org.

No comments: