Band Commission Meeting 29 January 2023

The City Band Commission will meet in formal session on Sunday, 29 Jan 2023, at 7 PM on the first floor of Marquis Hall at Coe College. Agenda:

  • Minutes of previous meeting
  • Financial Report
  • Committee Reports
    • Community Engagement
    • Compensation
    • Audition
  • Old Business
    • Equipment Upgrades
    • Inventory
    • Stage Manager
    • Band booster organization
  • New Business
  • Public Comment

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures
to participate in a City program, service, or activity, should contact the Municipal Band Business Manager
at 319-431-9649 or email business AT crmuniband.org as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the event.

Commission Meeting 13 November 2022

The City Band Commission will meet in formal session on 13 November 2022 at 7 PM in Marquis Hall at Coe College. Proposed agenda:

  1. Minutes of previous meeting
  2. Financial reports
    • FY23 Revenue
    • FY23 Expenditures
    • Account Report
  3. Old Business
    • Equipment upgrades
    • Venues
    • Inventory
  4. New Business
    • Proposal for restructuring staff and Commissioners for better engagement
    • Clarification of job descriptions for on-site work at concerts.
    • Contract for management of rehearsal space at Washington HS.
    • Contract for use of Wash PPA truck to pull trailer.
    • Discussion of options regarding future use of truck.
  5. Public Comments

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a City program, service, or activity, should contact the Municipal Band Business Manager at 319-431-9649 or email business AT crmuniband.org as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the event.

It’s the final week of the season!

Hard to believe, but we have arrived at the end of the 2022 season. This week, join us at Noelridge Park on Wednesday, August 3 and at Bever Park on Sunday, August 7. The Muni Band takes the stage at 7:30 pm. On Sunday night, arrive early for a 6:30 pm concert by the Eastside Brass Quintet.

Both Municipal Band performances can be viewed live on the band’s Facebook page. The Sunday performance can be heard on KMRY.

The performances will feature Isabella Anderson, Young Artist Competition Runner-Up, on flute as well as Luke Sanders on guitar. We will also celebrate the amazing legacy of longtime CR music educator Luman Colton.

Luke Sander is this week’s guitar hero.

The Program:

  • Overture to “Candide” (Leonard Bernstein, arranged by Clare Grundman)
  • Fantasie (Gabriel Faure, arranged by Robert Webb)
    Isabella Anderson, Flute (Young Artist Competition Runner-Up)
  • Milestone March (Frank Piersol)
    Kristi Schamberger, Conductor
  • Music from “Jurassic Park” (John Williams, arr. Jay Bocook)
  • Fairest of the Fair (John Philip Sousa)
  • “After ‘Fairest of the Fair’” from Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa (Ira Hearshen)
    Myron Peterson, Conductor
  • Fingerpick meets Blasmusick (Mario Parizek, arranged by Hermann Delago)
    Luke Sanders, Guitar
  • Whip and Spur Galop (Thomas Allen, arr. Ray Cramer)

Brass vs. Woodwinds!

This week, the band divides for an epic battle…wait…er…epic concert!

Join us Wednesday, July 27 at Bowman Woods Elementary and Sunday, July 31 at Ellis Park. Concert time is 7:30 pm and you can watch the concerts live on our Facebook page or listen to the Sunday evening concert on KMRY radio.

Steve Shanley conducts the brass choir (top) and Lesley Fleer leads the woodwind choir.

Brass Choir Program

Fanfare from “La Peri” (Paul Dukas)
Live and Let Die (Paul McCartney, arranged by Seb Skelly)
Quidditch, from “Harry Potter” (John Williams)
Somebody to Love (Freddie Mercury, arranged by Seb Skelly)
Game of Thrones (Ramin Djawadi, arranged by Nick Fife)
Drinking Song (Brindisi) from “La Traviata” (Giuseppe Verdi, arranged by Marc Oliver)
Here Comes the Sun (George Harrison, arranged by Seb Skelly)

Woodwind Choir Program

Fanstasy on Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair
Il Re Pastore
Folksongs from Somerset
Orinoco Cocoa
Irish Tune from County Derry
Prelude from Le Tombeau de Couperin
Heliotrope Bouquet

Week 7 — Kirkwood CC and McGrath Amphitheatre

Join the Muni Band this week at Kirkwood Community College on Wednesday, July 20, and at McGrath Amphitheatre on Sunday, July 24.

Concert time is 7:30 pm. You can watch the performances live on Facebook and hear the Sunday concert on KMRY radio.

Now, you may have heard a certain conductor (we shall not name him here, but his initials are Steve Shanley) suggest that the Kirkwood concert will be held indoors. It will not. We include a map here to show you where the concert will be held and where you will be able to park.

Be alert for construction on campus! And bring your lawn chair!

THE PROGRAM:
Festive Overture (Dmitri Shostakovich, arr. Hunsberger)
Sabre and Spurs (John Philip Sousa, arr. Fennell)
Rhapsody for Euphonium (James Curnow) — Caleb Lambert, euphonium
The Little Mermaid (Alan Menken, arr. Bocook)
Concertpiece No. 2 (Felix Mendelssohn) — Christine Bellomy & Thiago Ancelmo, clarinet
Chicago Tribune March (W. Paris Chambers)
Theme from “The Magnificent Seven” (Elmer Bernstein, arr. Paul Yoder)
Rolling Thunder (Henry Fillmore, arr. Fennell)

Juggle Your Schedule for the Wed. Night Concert!

This week, the Wednesday night performance will include a juggling performance by Benjamin Domask-Ruh as Cedar Rapids welcomes the 75th Annual International Jugglers Convention to town! Join us on July 13 at The History Center to catch (see what we did there?) this special event.

If you can’t attend in person, you can tune in on our Facebook page.

While there won’t be juggling on Sunday night, July 17, in Ellis Park, there will still be plenty of wonderful music. Whether in-person, on Facebook, or on KMRY radio, we hope you will join us!

PROGRAM

  • Slava! (Leonard Bernstein, arranged by Clare Grundman)
  • Bring Him Home (Schonberg, Boublil, & Kretzmer, arranged by Mark Armstrong)
    Luke Lovegood, Voice
  • Brighton Beach (William P. Latham)
  • Introduction, Theme and Variations (Gioacchino Rossini, transcribed by
    Marco Tamanini)
    Madeline Nuss, Clarinet (Young Artist Competition Runner-Up)
  • You Raise Me Up (Rolf Løvland & Brendan Graham, arranged by John Wasson)
    Luke Lovegood, Voice
  • Symphonic Beatles (arranged by John Cacavas)
  • Jump, Jive, an’ Swing (arr. Paul Murtha)
  • Sabre Dance (Khatchaturian, arr. Marc Oliver)
  • The Big Cage (Karl King, arranged by Andrew Glover)
At Ellis Park, you’ll get to see our new background banner. It really makes the band “pop!”

Week 5: Around the world…and to a galaxy far, far away

The band celebrated America in during week four. For week five, we travel around the globe and beyond.

Way beyond.

Join us this week at Cleveland School on Wednesday, July 6 and in Bever Park on Sunday, July 10.

Concerts can also be viewed live on the band’s Facebook page and the Sunday evening performance can be heard live on KMRY radio.

The Program:

Toccata Marziale (Ralph Vaughan Williams)
African Samba (Adam Gorb)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (John Williams, arranged by Jay Bocook)
Clarinet Polka (arranged by Bruce R. Smith)
Piccolo Espagnol (James Christensen) Rose Bishop, Piccolo; Bill Carson, Guest Conductor
Albanian Dance (Shelley Hanson)
Hoagy Carmichael: An American Classic (arr. James Kessler)
Hungarian Dance (Tchaikovsky, arr. Wil Van der Beek)
Leichtes Blut Galop (Johann Strauss, arranged by Glen Lienhart)

Week Four Includes the 4th of July!

First things first. Or maybe Fourth things first.

This week’s concerts will happen on Wednesday, June 29, at the McGrath Amphitheatre and on MONDAY, July 4, at Guthridge Park in Hiawatha. There will be no Sunday evening performance.

Performances can be viewed live on the band’s Facebook page.

Given the patriotic holiday, you can expect a slate of patriotic and other iconic American tunes!

Superman March (John Williams, arranged by Paul Lavender)
Armed Forces Salute (arranged by Bob Lowden)
West Side Story Selection (Leonard Bernstein, arranged by William Duthoit)
River City March (Frank Piersol)
America the Beautiful (Ward/Bates, arranged by Carmen Dragon)
Sweet Trombone Rag (Al Sweet)
Big Band Spectacular (arranged by John Higgins)
Shenandoah (arranged by R. Paul Astley)
The Stars and Stripes Forever (John Philip Sousa)

Caleb Lamert (top) and Robert Parker will be featured in Sweet Trombone Rag.

Week 3: Concerts at Noelridge & Bever Parks

This week, the band is proud to present percussionist Arjun Palaniappan, winner of our 2022 Young Artist Competition. Arjun will join the band for Kibo, a piece by Andrea Venet and arragned by our own Dr. Shanley. The arrangement features the talented young musician on snare drum.

Laci McHenry, a student at Kennedy High School, will be featured on vocals for the Star Spangled Banner and the Cedar Rapids Song of Dedication.

The Wednesday night performance (6/22) will take place in Noelridge Park. The Sunday night performance (6/26) will be in Bever Park and will be preceded by a concert by the New Horizons Band at 6:15 pm. The Muni Band takes the stage both nights at 7:30 pm.

Both Muni Band concerts can be viewed live on Facebook; the Sunday evening concert will also be broadcast on KMRY radio.

The full Muni Band program:
The Thunderer (John Philip Sousa)
Satiric Dances (Norman Dello Joio)
Selections from “Moana” (arr. by Jay Bocook)
Themes from “Green Bushes” (Percy Grainger, arranged by Larry Daehn)
Kibo (Andrea Venet, arr. Steve Shanley)
Colonel Bogey (Kenneth J. Alford, arr. Frederick Fennell)
Waltz from “Jazz Suite” (Shostakovich, arr. de Meij)
Legends of Jazz (arr. Stephen Bulla)
The Southerner (Russell Alexander)

With jazz on the program, it is only natural that longtime Muni Band alto saxophonist Bruce Western will be featured!

This week: Johnson STEAM Academy & Ellis Park

This week, Dan Terrell leads the band in a program that includes music by musical theater heavyweights Stephen Sondheim and Lin-Manuel Miranda, marches by Iowa’s own Karl King and Frank Piersol, and much more.

Dan Terrell, co-director of bands at Linn-Mar, will lead the Municipal Band this week. Photo from the Monday night rehearsal.

Join us Wednesday, June 15 at Johnson Steam Academy and Sunday, June 19 at Ellis Park for performances at 7:30 pm. The Ellis Park performance will feature a prelude concert by CR Jazz under the direction of Joe Perea at 6:30 pm.

The Muni Band performances will be aired live on our Facebook page; you can also listen to the Sunday night performance on KMRY radio.

The Muni Band program:

  • Festmusik der Stadt Wien (Richard Strauss/arr. Banks and Rundel)
  • West Highlands Sojourn (Robert Sheldon)
  • Peacemaker March (Karl King/ed. Swearingen)
  • The Grumbly Old Bear (Julius Fucik/arr. Glover) — Blaine Cunningham, tuba
  • Variations on a Shaker Melody (Aaron Copland)
  • Selections from Sweeney Todd (Stephen Sondheim/arr. Bulla)
  • Ye Banks and Braes O’ Bonnie Doon (Percy Grainger)
  • Pavilion March (Frank Piersol)
  • Selections from Encanto (Lin-Manuel Miranda/arr. Murtha)
  • Curtain Call (John Wasson)

Aren Van Houzen (left), Chris Haas, and the rest of the brass section will be featured on a flashy fanfare by Richard Strauss.