End of Season Blowout! Noelridge, Ellis, and HooverFest

We’re in our final week of the 2013 season, and we have some great music to see everyone off.

Wednesday, we’re near the lagoon at Noelridge Park. Please note that some early copies of the schedule stated Bowman Woods, but that’s not available due to construction. This late in the year, it’s much cooler in the evening, so if you’ve been avoiding Noelridge due to heat…this is your chance!

Sunday night, we’ll bid the summer farewell at Ellis, one of our most popular venues. Come on out, relax, and enjoy the great view of the river. Downbeat for both Wednesday and Sunday is 7:30 PM.

Saturday night, the band will be in West Branch for HooverFest. We’ll be playing the music for the fireworks LIVE…and hey, where else can you see a great fireworks show this late in the summer? Saturday’s concert starts at 8:30, but there is plenty to see and do, with many activities for people of all ages.

The lineup for the parks concerts is:

  • Star Spangled Banner, sung by local high school student Mary Mathis
  • The William Tell Overture
  • Satchmo!
  • Grand Russian Fantasia, with special guest MSgt Susan Rider of The President’s Own Marine Band on trumpet
  • The Slavic Woman’s Farewell
  • Playing It Forward
  • The Typewriter, with guest Carissa Stout on…the typewriter!
  • West Side Story Selection
  • Danny Boy, with MSgt Susan Rider
  • Library of Congress (Sousa’s final march)
  • Song of Dedication, with Mary Mathis

Come join us as we finish the 2013 season!

 

Master Sergeant Susan Rider

RiderWe have a special guest for our final week of 2013: Trumpeter/cornetist Susan Rider of Cedar Falls, Iowa, who joined “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in July 1997.

Master Sergeant Rider began her musical instruction at age 10. Upon graduating in 1985 from Northern University High School in Cedar Falls, she earned a bachelor’s degree in music in 1989 from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. She continued her studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, where in 1991 she earned a master’s degree in music and in 2000 earned a doctorate of music in brass pedagogy. Her trumpet instructors were Keith Johnson and Randy Grabowski of the University of Northern Iowa, and Charles Gorham and Edmund Cord of Indiana University.

Prior to joining “The President’s Own,” MSgt Rider performed with the Midland/Odessa Symphony in Texas, the Owensboro Symphony in Kentucky, and the Evansville Philharmonic and Columbus Indiana Philharmonic in Indiana. She also played in the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra in Charleston, S.C., and was a substitute with the New World Symphony in Miami. In addition to performing, she also taught studio trumpet in Odessa and at Purdue University in Indiana, and was an associate instructor at Indiana University for the brass and music education departments.

MSgt Rider is a frequent soloist with the Marine Band, Marine Chamber Orchestra, and Marine Chamber Ensembles, and has appeared as a Marine Band guest soloist with groups including the Male High School Symphonic Band from Louisville, Ky., in 2001, the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony in 2005, and at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. In 2010, she was a Marine Band guest soloist with the Hannaford Street Silver Band and a Monarch Brass ensemble member at the International Women’s Brass Conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In addition to her musical duties, MSgt Rider has served as a Tour Coordinator since 2003, advancing and serving as on-site manager during the band’s annual concert tour.

The Marine Band is America’s oldest continuously active professional musical organization. Founded in 1798, the band has performed for every U.S. President since John Adams. Known as “The President’s Own” since the days of Thomas Jefferson, the Marine Band’s primary mission is to provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Week 8: Sokol and Bever REDUX

We have another diverse program featuring many guests this week.
Violinist Natalie Brown will be joining us for two pieces: one of the
most haunting and beautiful movie melodies of all time, as well as
some good old fashioned Irish fiddling. A number of talented
musicians from our local high schools will perform–including a rising
star on the…anvil. And of course, since one of our concerts takes
place in Sokol Park, we offer a polka and the most famous march from
the “Bohemian Sousa!”

Furthermore, we’ll have a prelude concert at 6:30 on Sunday by the Cedar Rapids Youth Flute Ensemble!

  • Star Spangled Banner (arr. Moffit) Featuring Bentlee Birchansky, Vocalist
  • Overture to “Candide” (Bernstein, arr. Grundman)
  • Theme from Schindler’s List (John Williams, arr. Calvin Custer) Featuring Natalie Brown, violin
  • Semper Fidelis (John Philip Sousa)
  • From the Shores of the Mighty Pacific (Herbert L. Clarke) Featuring Wiatt Cariveau, Tuba
  • Ragged Rozey (Karl King, arr. John Boyd)
  • Feuerfest Polka (Josef Strauss, arr. Vosbein) Dylan Manternach, Anvil Soloist Dan Terrell, Guest Conductor
  • Amazing Grace (arr. Frank Ticheli)
  • Pennywhistle Song (Leroy Anderson) Featuring members of the Cedar Rapids Youth Flute Ensemble: Alyson Krapfl, Katharine Benya, Valerie Drake, Alyssa Wakeman, Loan Tran, & Carissa Newman.
  • Florentiner March (Fucik, arr. Fennell)
  • Irish Washerwoman (arr. Leroy Anderson) Featuring Natalie Brown, violin
  • Cedar Rapids Song of Dedication (Barrett, arr. Moehlmann) Featuring Bentlee Birchansky, Vocalist

If you can’t make it either evening, Wednesday’s concert will be broadcast live on KMRY Radio (kmryradio.com).

Week 7: Out of the Shadows

This week, we’re featuring instruments that don’t often get the spotlight. What’s more, our featured soloists are all members of the Municipal Band!

But if you want to hear them, make sure you go to the right place: BEVER PARK on Wednesday at the usual time, and Sunday at Ellis. The original Wednesday venue was cancelled late last week due to construction schedules. But Bever is only a mile away from it, so if you planned to attend because it was in your area, you still can.

What’s more, Bever has plenty of shade, making it ideal on a hot summer night.

We have a great lineup this week:

  • Star Spangled Banner with guest vocalist Lincoln Ginsberg from Washington High School
  • The Corcoran Cadets March (Sousa)
  • Morceau de Concert (Saint-Saens), featuring Andy Harris on French horn
  • Gershwin! (arr. Barker), conducted by CRMB sound technician Alex Shields
  • The Old Sore-Head or “Der alte Brummbar” (Fucik), featuring Greg Morton on bassoon
  • Alamo (King)
  • Sandpaper Ballet (Anderson), featuring our percussion section: Alan Lawrence, Tom Mackey, Doug Krejci, Luke Swearingen, and Nathan Benya
  • Glenn Miller In Concert (arr. Scott)
  • Blue Bells of Scotland (Pryor), featuring William Carson on bass clarinet
  • Rolling Thunder (Fillmore)
  • Song of Dedication with guest vocalist Lincoln Ginsberg

Bring a chair and a beverage and enjoy!

And the winner is … BEVER PARK!

OUR WEDNESDAY CONCERT IS AT BEVER PARK! As stated, we cannot play Washington HS as originally scheduled. This is due to delays to the construction at the school. Instead, we are playing at Bever Park, which is a mere mile from Wash. Tell your friends!

CHANGES OF PLANS!

We have a couple of late-breaking schedule changes for you. First, Die Tiefen Keller Kinder WILL NOT present a prelude concert on 14 July at Bever. We were informed on Friday that due to some other schedule changes, they cannot play this weekend. We apologize for the inconvenience. BUT THE MUNICIPAL BAND CONCERT IS STILL ON and will take place at 7:30 PM at Bever, just as scheduled!

Second, due to changes in the construction schedule at Washington High School, we cannot play there this coming Wednesday. The power at the facility is not available. We are working on getting a different venue. Check this site, Facebook/Twitter, or KMRY Radio for updates. (This could be the band’s first-ever “ninja gig.”)

Week 6: The Bringer of WAR!

As in MARS, from Holst’s famous “The Planets,” of course, conducted by no less a personage than Jason Weinberger, conductor of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra.

We’ll be at Taft Middle School on the NW side on Wednesday, and it looks like the weather will be much more clement than it was the last time we played Taft. It’s a bit sunny there, but it will be quite cool for July, so don’t be shy! Come out at 7:30, or listen on KMRY radio.

Sunday, we’re at Bever Park, one of the band’s favorite venues. And we have a special treat for you, a prelude concert at 6:30 by Die Tiefen Keller Kinder! My German is rusty (nay, non-existent), but that translates roughly as The Deep Cellar Children. If you’re as intrigued by that as I am, you’ll be there right at the downbeat.

This week, we’re featuring Keith Hammer on xylophone, playing the ridiculously challenging (and fun) “Helter-Skelter” by W. G. Lemon. Keith is the winner of this year’s Young Artist Competition, and when you hear him on this piece, you’ll know why.

The lineup for the week:

  • Star Spangled Banner
  • Overture for Winds (Carter)
  • The Free Lance March (Sousa)
  • Mars (1st Movement of The Planets, Holst)
  • March Slurrioso (Rosenkrans)
  • James Bond Suite (arr. Erickson)
  • Helter-Skelter (Lemon)
  • The March From “1941” (Williams)
  • The Girl in Satin (Anderson)
  • Circus Days (King)
  • Song of Dedication

Week Five: A Hat Trick of Concerts!

Greetings, music lovers! This week, the Municipal Band is playing THREE events, all free. This Wednesday, we’ll be at Noelridge Park near the lagoon at 7:30. We have a bonus concert on Saturday, 6 July, downtown at the Farmers Market in Greene Square Park — downbeat is at 10:00 AM sharp. (Well, not sharp…we’ll play in tune. Rimshot!) And we’ll end the week at 7:30 Sunday at Ellis Park.

In honor of our nation’s birth, our theme this week is America, and in keeping with this, some of our nation’s veterans will post the colors prior to our concert on Wednesday.

The program is:

  • Fanfare/Star Spangled Banner, vocals by Nathaniel Smale
  • American Overture for Band
  • American Patrol
  • They Can’t Take That Away From Me, with guest artist Kelsey Madsen
  • Armed Forces Salute
  • American Faces
  • America The Beautiful, with guest artist Kelsey Madsen
  • Americans We
  • Hoagy Carmichael
  • Mack the Knife, with guest artist Kelsey Madsen
  • The Stars and Stripes Forever
  • Cedar Rapids Song of Dedication, vocals by Nathaniel Smale

Please join us in saluting our great nation!

Publicity Manager

UPDATE: WE ARE STILL ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS! The application process on the city website has closed, but the Commission is still taking applications. Please look at the job description on the city’s site, then mail your application to maestrolaw@gmail.com. Please note that this is NOT a volunteer position, but a contract position.

The City Band Commission is accepting applications for a Publicity Manager for the Municipal Band. Duties may include (but are not limited to) working with sponsors, advertising, website management, social media, etc. The official description of the position can be found on the Cedar Rapids official site — just click here. (Pops to new window.) All who are interested are encouraged to apply.

Week 4: Sokol Park and Bever Park

We have a great program for you this week. Wednesday, we’re at Sokol Park in the Czech Village at 7:30. Our theme this week is quite international, with music from Spain, Latin America, Russia, Scotland, the USA…and of course we’ll have Czech music as well! Walk, ride, or bike on down.

On Sunday, we’ll be once again at Bever Park, and there will be a prelude concert at 6:30 by the Cedar Brass, a group of young brass players. They’re quite good.

The lineup:

  • Star Spangled Banner featuring Molly Brandt, Voice
  • Procession of the Nobles (Rimsky-Korsakov, trans. Leidzen)
  • Hoop-Dee-Doo Polka (Loesser & DeLugg, arr. Paul Yoder)
  • Madrid Inspiration (arr. by Masanori Kato), featuring Kenneth Tse on Alto Saxophone
  • Entry of the Gladiators (Fucik, arr. Balent)
  • Ye Banks and Braes O Bonnie Doon (Percy Grainger)
  • Lerner and Loewe in Concert (arr. Warren Barker)
  • Lassus Trombone (Henry Fillmore)
  • Oliver’s Birthday (Bruce Broughton), featuring Lee Stickney, Trumpet
  • Golden Jubilee March (Sousa)
  • Cedar Rapids Song of Dedication, again featuring Molly Brandt’s vocals

This concert will be broadcast LIVE on KMRY radio, 1450 AM and 93.1 FM.