Concert Preview - Knightwind Ensemble

The new Music Director for the Knightwind Ensemble, Dr. Erik Janners of Marquette University, has passed on some of the music the Ensemble will perform at their November 21 concert. For the record, the concert will be in the Schwan Concert Hall on the campus of Wisconsin Lutheran College. The entrance to the Concert Hall is about 88th and Wisconsin Avenue. The concert will begin at 3 PM.

Two favorite orchestral transcriptions will be included in the program: the movements Mars, The Bringer of War and Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity from Gustav Holst masterpiece, The Planets. It has been many years since Knightwind performed either of these two movements, and yet they remain a favorite of both the audience and the musicians.

It would not be a Knightwind Ensemble performance without some music from a contemporary composer. For the November concert, that composer is Martin Ellerby, and the music is his Dreamscapes. The music is impressions of areas outside reality, including Shangri-La and Xanado. The Ensemble has performed Mr. Ellerby's Paris Sketches in November of 2005.

Also on the program is Aspen Jubilee from composer Ron Nelson. His aim with the music was to show "...the stupendous beauty of the Rockies, in general, of blinding sunlight, of snow-covered peaks; of the frontier spirit of old Aspen with its brash, funny dynamism, its corny ragtag Fourth of July parades and firework displays."

You can reach the Knightwind Web Site at www.knightwind.org. By printing out the page for the next concert, you can receive a discount on concert tickets. Be sure to check it out. And be sure to mark your calendar for November 21. The concert will be a good one!

News from the Fox Valley

Over the past few years, the founder of the Fox Valley Horn Choir, Don Krause, has organized a special event to raise scholarship money for students playing the French Horn. He calls it Horns A Plenty Christmas. For a number of years, the event occurred in Appleton. Last year, there was one in Milwaukee as well. He and his partner, Dr. Bruce Atwell who teaches Horn at UW Oshkosh, have been promoting the event nationwide.

I learned recently that Don can add another city to the list hosting Horns A Plenty Christmas: Washington DC. The date is Saturday December 4 and the location is the National Gallery of Art. Rehearsal begins at 12:30 PM with the concert to be held at 2 PM. All horn players are welcome to participate. The music is easy and the cost is low. Don's goal is a minimum of 100 horn players. And there is a rumor that the horn sections from some of the Service Bands will be attending. WOW!

The details will be posted on the Horns A Plenty Christmas web site once they are all worked out. But I bet there are a number of Milwaukee area horn players that are thinking ROAD TRIP!

News from the Western Suburbs

I learned this week that the schedule for the Waukesha Area Symphonic Band has been set. The fall concert is Sunday evening November 14 at 7:30 PM at Shattuck Auditorium on the campus of Carroll University. WASB will celebrate the Holidays on Friday December 10 at 7:30, also in the Shattuck Auditorium. The Spring concert is set for Sunday April 17, also at 7:30 PM in Shattuck.

Their annual Concerto Competition auditions will be held on Saturday February 5. More details will come after the first of the year.

And for those of you in Wauwatosa, the first concert of the Wauwatosa Community Band will celebrate Halloween! Music will include Thrillers and Chillers and Ghosts in the Graveyards. More traditional selections will include The William Tell Overture and music from The Lion King. Unfortunately, the date has not been finalized. Once it is, I'll get it posted.

Not much news this week

The season is just underway. I'm working on getting more dates for the calendar, but nothing to add just yet.

However, I did get some news on the November concert by the Knightwind Ensemble. The new Music Director, Dr. Erik Janners, will be programming two movements from The Planets by Gustav Holst: Mars and Jupiter. Just based on that, it will be a great concert!

2010 - 2011 Community Music Calendar

With the new concert season beginning, I've assembled a list of the concerts by the different community groups that I get information from. At this time, there are three groups that have not set their concert dates: the Milwaukee Concert Band, the Waukesha Area Symphonic Band, and the Wauwatosa Community Band. When I get those dates, I'll post the information and add it to this calendar. If you have concert information for community groups not on the calendar, send me an email at mulwaukeecommunitymusic@yahoo.com and I'll post the information. Thanks in advance.

September - No concerts

October
17 - Lakeshore Symphonic Band, 3pm, Cedarburg Performing Arts Center
24 - Milwaukee Festival Brass, 3 PM, Wisconsin Lutheran College
24 - Milwaukee American Legion Band, 3 PM, South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center
30 - Menomonee Falls Symphony, 7:30 PM, Sussex Hamilton Fine Arts Center

November
11 - Milwaukee American Legion Band, 10 AM, Chapel at Zablocki Hospital
14 - Waukesha Area Symphonic Band, 7:30 PM, Shattuck Auditorium, Carroll University
21 - Knightwind Ensemble, 3 PM, Wisconsin Lutheran College

December
5 - Hartland Community Band, 3 PM, Holy Hill Basilica
10 - Waukesha Area Symphonic Band, 7:30 PM, Shattuck Auditorium, Carroll University
11 - Menomonee Falls Symphony, 7:30 PM, Sussex Hamilton Fine Arts Center
12 - Milwaukee American Legion Band, 3 PM, South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center
19 - Milwaukee Festival Brass, 3 PM, Wisconsin Lutheran College
19 - Lakeshore Symphonic Band, 3 PM, Holy Hill Basilica

January - No concerts

February
11, 12 - Menomonee Falls Symphony, 6:30 Dinner and 7:30 concert, Silver Spring Country Club

March
6 - Lakeshore Symphonic Band, 3 PM, Cedarburg Performing Arts Center

April
3 - Knightwind Ensemble, 3 PM, South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center
3 - Milwaukee Festival Brass, 3 PM, Wisconsin Lutheran College
17 - Waukesha Area Symphonic Band, 7:30 PM, Shattuck Auditorium, Carroll University

May
15 - Lakeshore Symphonic Band, 3 PM, Cedarburg Performing Arts Center
15 - Milwaukee American Legion Band, 3 PM, South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center
21 - Menomonee Falls Symphony, 7:30, Sussex Hamilton Fine Arts Center
30 - Knightwind Ensemble, 1 PM, Milwaukee County Zoo

June
4 - Milwaukee Festival Brass, 3 PM, Wisconsin Lutheran College

If you have dates for other community groups, please email them to me and I will add them to the list. Please remember that this blog is geared for adult, community oriented (volunteer) groups. I cannot post concert dates for professional or childrens groups. Thanks for you cooperation.

Would you like to play?

Last year at this time I posted a list of different community music groups in the area, organized by the night of the week that they rehearse. Time to reprise that posting. If you have an instrument, and would like to play in a group, there are many to choose from in the Milwaukee Metro area. Here are some of the groups. And all of them would love to have a new member!

Sunday: There is one group rehearsing on Sunday evening, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Community Concert Band. The band is always looking for new members. If an audition is needed, it is in order to determine where a person would sit. The group performs a more traditional concert band repertoire, and performs most of the year. The group is lead by conductor Karen Lippert. Unfortunately the group does not have a web site at this time. If you're interested in more information, please send me an email and I'll forward it to the conductor.

Monday: There is a community orchestra rehearsing on Monday evenings, the Menomonee Falls Symphony, directed by Mike Kamenski. Auditions are required. The group performs traditional symphony orchestra works. To get more information, see the web site: http://my.execpc.com/~regent/mfso.htm.

Tuesday: There are three groups rehearsing on Tuesday evening: the Wauwatosa Community Band, the Waukesha Area Symphonic Band, and the Milwaukee Festival Brass, the area's only British style brass band.First, the Wauwatosa Community Band is sponsored in part by the Wauwatosa Parks and Rec department and welcomes any and all players. Their concerts are lighter in nature with some more serious works for band. They also have a jazz ensemble, with many players performing in both groups. See their web site for more information: http://www.arcfile/com/tosaband/

Also on Tuesday is the Waukesha Area Symphonic Band. WASB performs more serious works and more difficult works for band. Auditions are required. Their web site is http://www.wasband.org/.

Finally on Tuesday is the Milwaukee Festival Brass directed by Dr. Patricia Backhaus, one of my favorite groups. If you are a brass or percussion player, this group offers something different from most community groups as the instrumentation is that of a traditional British Brass Band. The music is a wide variety from Pops favorites to very difficult brass band competition pieces. Auditions are required. See the web site for more info: http://www.mfbrass.org/.

Wednesday: There are three groups rehearsing on Wednesday evening: the Sudler Award Winning Knightwind Ensemble, the Lakeshore Symphonic Band, and the Milwaukee American Legion Band. The Legion band is modeled on the traditional patriotic military band. Not sure if they require auditions. Please see the web site for more information: http://milwakeeamericanlegionband.com/home.htm

The Lakeshore Symphonic Band is located in Ozaukee County in Grafton. Their performances are at the Cedarburg Arts Center. You can get more information from their web site: http://www.lakeshoreband.com/.

The Knightwind Ensemble also rehearses on Wednesday evening. The Ensemble specializes in performing newer works for band and wind symphony. Their web site has the list of the pieces performed in concert over the past 10 years plus, and it includes international award winning pieces. Auditions are required, and the band will add you to the waiting list if the section is full. See the web site for more information: http://www.knightwind.org/. The Ensemble received the Sudler Silver Scroll from the John Philip Sousa Foundation in December of 2005. Of the tens of thousands of community bands eligible for the award, the Knightwind Ensemble is one of 37 groups to EVER receive the award. Quite the accomplishment!

Thursday: Three groups rehearse on Thursday evening. The first is the Milwaukee Concert Band. As they do not have a web site, it is difficult to get information about the group. However, if you are interested in a Thursday rehearsal, send me an email and I will make sure that the director receives it.

Also rehearsing on Thursday is the Suburban Concert Band in West Allis, and the Greendale Village Band. The Suburban Concert Band's site is at http://www.suburbanconcertband.bravehost.com/. This group, like Tosa Band, also has a jazz ensemble.

The Greendale Village Band does not have a web site. However, the Wisconsin Music Group Band list at http://my.execpc.com/~regent/band.htm has contact information for them.

And that wraps up the list of community music groups in the Milwaukee area. If I missed one that you know of, please email me or add a comment to the post. I'll be sure to add it to the list.

The summer is winding down

Other than the final concerts by the Racine Concert Band at the Racine Zoo (see last week's post for details), the summer concerts are now a thing of the past. It was a very good summer with many wonderful concerts. I hope you were able to enjoy many of them.

I will be working to assemble the calendar of concerts for the 2010-2011 season for the community bands in the area. I hope to publish the calendar on Sunday September 5. Next week is a list of the community bands in the area, for those who would like to join a group and play.