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.

The City Band Commission will meet on Wednesday, 26 June, at Sokol Park. Time is 6:45 PM, just prior to the concert.

Proposed agenda:

Call to Order – Chair Robert Sadilek

Minutes of previous meeting – Law

Financial Report – Law

New Business:

• Approve proposed budget for 2013-2014
• Rewrite Business manager job description.

Additional items for Discussion

Concerts this week at Ushers Ferry Historic Village on Wednesday and Ellis Park on Sunday. Featured artists are Slayton Thompson on harmonica, euphonium players David Neff and Blaine Cunningham, and vocalist Rosa Lemos.

You can hear Wednesday’s concert LIVE at 7:30 PM CDT (12:30 AM GMT) on KRMY 93.1 FM, 1450 AM, and http://www.kmryradio.com/listen-live/

On Sunday, be sure to show up early! Prelude concert by the New Horizons Band, under the direction of Alan Lawrence, on Sunday at 6:30 PM.

We have a great lineup of tunes this week, including:

• Star Spangled Banner, sung by Rosa Lemos
• The Hounds of Spring by Alfred Reed
• Galaxy March by Frank Piersol
• Duke Ellington! by Duke Ellington, arr. by Calvin Custer
• Stardust by Hoagy Carmichael, arr. by Warren Barker, featuring Slayton Thompson on harmonica
• The Fairest of the Fair by John Philip Sousa, edited by Frederick Fennell
• Variations on a Korean Folk Song by John Barnes Chance
• The Wrong Note Rag from “Wonderful Town” by Leonard Bernstein, arr. by Ted Ricketts
• The Days of Wine and Roses by Henry Mancini, arr. by Steve Shanley, featuring Slayton Thompson on harmonica
• The Melody Shop by Karl King, arr. by Andrew Glover, featuring David Neff and Blaine Cunningham on euphonium
• Cedar Rapids Song of Dedication by Larry Barrett, sung by Rosa Lemos

Be assured that the band worked very hard to make sure every “wrong note” in The Wrong Note Rag is exactly the CORRECT wrong note! And you absolutely need to hear Slayton…the man is amazing.

We have another great week of music for you! Wednesday (12 June), we will be at Taft Middle School on E Avenue NW. We’ve not been able to play there for a while due to the geothermal system installation, so we’re looking forward to being in that part of town again.

Sunday, 16 June, we’ll be at Bever Park. If you’re not regularly in that area, please be aware that parts of Blake Boulevard and Bever Avenue are closed due to construction. Bever has a relatively well-marked detour, but Blake does not. (Blake is closed between Forest Drive and Grande Avenue, but otherwise open.) Please check a map as necessary.

This week, our program is dedicated to the fathers in the crowd and in the band. Our selections are:

• Star Spangled Banner, sung by Erin Coker, Kennedy High School
• Eternal Father, Strong to Save (Claude T. Smith)
• U.S. Field Artillery March (John Philip Sousa)
• Andrew Lloyd Webber: A Symphonic Portrait (arr. Jerry Nowak)
• Your Father’s Mustache (Wes Tompkins)
• The Sea Shells Waltz (Frederick Neil Innes, edited by Chris Buckholz) Featuring Chris Buckholz, trombone (http://chrisbuckholz.com/)
• Louis Armstrong Revival Selection (arr. Willy Hautvast)
• Alligator Alley (Michael Daugherty)
• His Honor (Henry Fillmore)
• Cedar Rapids Song of Dedication, sung by Erin Coker, Kennedy High School

See you there! And remember…if in doubt concerning the weather, call the hotline at 261-2762 (261-CRMB).

Francis Scott Key wrote what we now know as our national anthem during the Battle of Baltimore, which began on 13 September 1814 and ended the following morning. Key was a lawyer by vocation. He had boarded the British ship Tonnant with an American colonel to negotiate the release of prisoners, including a prominent citizen named Beale.

Unfortunately, dinner on the Tonnant had left Key and his companion with knowledge of the British fleet, as well as the fact that they planned to attack Baltimore. So Key and a few other Americans had to watch the assault on Baltimore’s Fort McHenry from the deck of an enemy vessel! In the early morning hours of 14 September, he saw that the American flag still flew, and as Key was a poet by avocation, he wrote four stanzas describing the attack.

“Defence of Fort McHenry” was published on 20 September 1814, but later became known as “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The Baltimore Patriot listed the tune as “Anacreon in Heaven,” which was written by John Stafford Smith of the Anacreontic Society, which was a gentlemen’s club in London for amateur musicians of good social status. The name comes from the Greek court poet Anacreon, who was quite the entertainer in his day. The Anacreontic Society itself regularly presented concerts of music for the public.

Woodrow Wilson declared by executive order in 1916 that it should be played at government occasions, but it wasn’t until 1931 that Iowa’s own Herbert Hoover signed legislation declaring it our national anthem.

In short…it was an Iowan who gave our nation its first (and thus far only) official anthem, and the tune was written by a group dedicated to free public concerts! And we are very happy to play the anthem at every one of our concerts for you.

The 63rd Municipal Band season is underway! We had a great rehearsal on Monday, and we’re looking forward to playing for you. This week, we are at Greene Square Park on Wednesday, 5 June, and at Ellis Park on Sunday, 9 June. Both concerts start at 7:30 PM.

Here is the program:

• Fanfare and Star Spangled Banner (Key), sung by student vocalist Madelyn Carlson of Washington HS
• Iowa Band Law (by Karl King, dedicated to the very legislation that helps make this band possible!)
• Declaration Overture (Smith)
• I’ve Made My Plans for the Summer (Sousa), with guest vocalist Angela Billman
• Shenandoah (Ticheli)
• Horse and Buggy (Anderson)
• Second Suite in F (Holst)
• Best Broadway Marches(arr. Christensen)
• I Dreamed a Dream (yep, from Les Miserables), with Angela
• Circus Bee (Fillmore)
• The Cedar Rapids Song of Dedication, with Madelyn

See you there!

PS For those of you who aren’t sure you want to attend…”I’ve Made My Plans for the Summer” is a WALTZ by Sousa — he even wrote the lyrics. You really ought to hear it.

Our first concert is only a week away! We’ll open our season next Wednesday, 5 June, at Greene Square Park. Our guest artist will be Angela Billman, favorite of local theater productions. She will will sing John Philip Sousa’s “I’ve Made My Plans for the Summer” and “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables. And then we’ll do it AGAIN on Sunday, 9 June, at Ellis Park!

We can’t predict Iowa weather a week in advance, so check here for updates or call the hotline at 261-CRMB (2762) that day.

Scott

The Cedar Rapids City Band Commission will meet in formal session on Sunday, 19 May 2013, at 5 PM in Marquis Hall at Coe College.

Welcome to the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band’s website! We have a very busy season ahead of us, with lots of great music and great artists. We hope you’ll be able to catch a concert.

All regular concerts are held in city parks and are FREE to the public! We do occasionally play a special concert at a private venue — these sometimes charge admittance. (The band is always free, but the venue is not.)

We’ll post news, announcements, and cancellations here. We’ll also have them on Facebook and Twitter.