The Willamette Valley Concert Band will perform its free annual Memorial Day Concert, “A Day Of Remembrance,” at 7 p.m. Monday, May 27 at the LaSells Stewart Center on the OSU campus, 875 SW 26th St, Corvallis.
The concert is free but donations are gladly accepted. The money will help mid-Valley music students attend summer music camps.
The program will begin with a special arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner written in 2002 by Steve Smith.
This will be followed by Rick Kirby’s “An American Fanfare,” which takes the normally hymn-like strains of “America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee)” and incorporates it into a fast and energetic fanfare.
“A Tribute To Harry James” features some of the solos for which the late trumpeter and band leader was most famous during his career that lasted from 1939 until the early 1980s. The arrangements, by Sammy Nestico, include “Ciribiribin,” “The Mole,” “You Made Me Love You,” and “Trumpet Blues” and “Cantabile.” Soloist Steve Iverson will channel the great jazz musician.
The” National Emblem March,” by Edwin Eugene Bagley, incorporates strains of the Star Spangled Banner. Since its original publication in 1906 the piece has been performed at countless civic and patriotic events and it is still used in the ceremonial performances of the U.S. military bands today.
“An American Elegy,” by Frank Tichelil, was composed in memory of those who lost their lives at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, and honors the survivors. It is offered as a tribute to their great strength and courage in the face of a terrible tragedy.
Leroy Anderson’s “Bugler’s Holiday” will feature a tricky trumpet trio led by Steve Iverson, Jerry Oryschyn and Bob Clausen. The piece is one of Anderson’s most enduring classics.
The “Harry Potter Symphonic Suite,” a symphonic medley from the movie “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” begins with spooky music from our talented percussion section and goes from there as the band joins in.
The famous Cole Porter piece, “Anything Goes,” written in 1934, evokes figures of scandal and gossip from Depression-era high society.
“Armed Forces Salute,” by Bob Loweden, will feature the official songs of the five military branches, including the Merchant Marines.
The concert will conclude with John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever,” which the U.S. Congress designated as America’s official march in 1987.
The Willamette Valley Concert Band, based in Albany, has played concerts in the Willamette Valley since 1970. The 50 member band includes adult musicians from Benton, Lynn, Marion and Polk Counties. It is directed by Mike Bevington, a retired band director who taught for many years in Jefferson. Dr. Richard Sorenson, emeritus director, will lead the last two pieces of the concert. He also sponsored this concert in memory of his late wife, Mary.
For more infmation, write to [email protected]