Waukesha Area Symphonic Band

The Waukesha Area Symphonic Band performs their final concert of the season on Friday evening May 12.  The concert is in Shattuck Auditorium on the campus of Carroll University and begins at 7:30.

The concert features the music of modern composers, Peter Mennin, John Barnes Chance, and Philip Sparke.  In addition, the band will perform a world premiere of a piece by music director Rick Kirby.  Finally, the winner of the WASB Concerto Competition for 2017 will perform.

The concert will support the Adaptive Community Approach Program (ACAP).  See their web site for all the important work they do in the Waukesha area.

For more information, see the WASB web site.

Milwaukee Festival Brass

You don't want to miss Impressions of New Zealand, presented by the Milwaukee Festival Brass on Saturday April 29.  The concert will be held at a new venue:  the Chapel at Concordia University in Mequon.

For more information or directions, see the MFB web site.

Just a reminder

As we get closer to the end of the concert season, there are fewer new concerts to mention.  So this week I will remind everyone of the upcoming concert by the Menomonee Falls Symphony on Saturday April 22 in the Sussex Hamilton Fine Arts Center. 

Dramatic Scores of the Masters will begin at 7:30.  Tickets can be purchased from the MFSO web site or at the door.  See you there.

Add this to your calendar

The final concert of the Concord Chamber Orchestra for the season will be on Saturday May 13 at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa.  This concert is special in that the CCO founder, Maestro John Parfey, will be in attendance to guest conduct a piece.  The concert will begin at 7 PM.

Here's the program as it stands today:

• Leonore Overture No. 3 • Beethoven
• Three Pieces from Schindler's List • Williams
• “Walk to Paradise Garden” from A Village Romeo and Juliet • Delius
• Romeo & Juliet Fantasy • Tchaikovsky
• West Side Story Selections • Bernstein

In addition to the concert, the CCO will have a silent auction during the intermission, and a free reception after the concert. 

The CCO concerts are always enjoyable and well worth the time and cost.  See you there.

Concert Preview: Milwaukee Festival Brass

The Milwaukee Festival Brass will perform music of "the other down under" when they present Impressions of New Zealand.  The concert is on Saturday afternoon April 29 at 3:30 PM in the chapel at Concordia University of Wisconsin in Mequon.  The program will evoke the many varied landscapes and cultural traditions of this distant island nation.

The concert will open with Gareth Wood’s majestic Hinemoa: a celebration of the Maori origins of New Zealand.  Several of the band’s members will be featured as soloists.  Soprano cornetist David Magoon and flugelhorn Andy Brinza will perform selections based on folk songs from New Zealand. The landscapes of New Zealand inspired Peter Jackson to film his Lord of the Rings trilogy there, and the band will present a selection of music from the film score.

The concert also provides an opportunity to salute the achievements of bass trombonist Kelly Eshbaugh, who is completing her masters degree in trombone performance at UW-Milwaukee.  The band will feature Kelly in a complete performance of Chris Brubeck Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra, adapted for the brass band.

Tickets are available at the Concordia University box office.  And the MFB web site has more information.