Earlier this week, the Band Commission met to discuss the performance options for the 2020 Season. With sadness, the Commission announces that the regular season is cancelled and there will be no full-band concerts this year.

We are considering alternatives for the CRMB to continue connecting with our community this summer. Some ideas include:

1) Individual band members presenting a short “concert” and/or presentation online (fun history of their instrument, a short talk on their favorite Sousa marches, could be ANYTHING).  We are working to get these set up for June.

2) Small-group performances later in the summer, if new research, best practices, and recommended safety protocols allow.  It is possible these performances could occur outdoors for live audiences, but they would, at the very least, be broadcast so audience members can enjoy safely from home.

The Commission will meet in late June or early July to reevaluate possibilities. This is our 70th season, and we certainly aren’t going to let it go by unnoticed! So stay tuned for more news!

The City Band Commission will meet in formal session at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, 19 May 2020. Due to the pandemic, this meeting will be held online only. Meeting in person will be impossible or impractical due to concerns for the health and safety of Commission members, staff and the public presented by COVID-19 as well as limitations on size of gatherings.

This meeting, like all Commission meetings, is open to the public. If you wish to attend, please write to Scott Haney, Business Manager, at business AT crmuniband.org and the meeting information will be sent to you.

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

We are sorry to report that due to ongoing concerns regarding COVID-19, we must indefinitely postpone CRMB auditions. We will not be able to pick a new date (if any) until the current situation stabilizes.

We appreciate everyone’s patience, and we hope to see everyone out there for a wonderfully musical summer.

City Manager Jeff Pomeranz presented the proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2020 on Feb 6. Budget details are available on the city’s website. Per the Iowa Code section 384.15A, documents for total maximum property tax dollars: https://bit.ly/2w6QLaY

You will find a permanent link to this information HERE.

The Cedar Rapids Municipal Band, a professional concert band that presents 18 (sometimes more) free concerts every summer, will hold its annual auditions on Friday, 27 March, and Saturday, 28 March, in the band room at Cedar Rapids Washington High School at 2005 Forest Drive SE.

There are known openings for Flute, Clarinet, Trumpet, Trombone, and Percussion. Other instrument openings are possible, and substitute players are welcome on all instruments, particularly Saxophone and Horn this year.

A typical concert week consists of a Monday rehearsal (7:15 to 9:45), followed by concerts on the following Wednesday and Sunday (7:30 to 8:30). Some seasons include additional performances. Members are expected to commit to at least five weeks per summer. Subs are hired on a weekly basis. All musicians are paid.

We encourage all qualified musicians to apply. To sign up for an audition, please email our business manager, Scott Haney, at business AT crmuniband.org with the following information:

1. Name of the person auditioning
2. Musician’s email address(es)
3. Musician’s phone number. Cell number is preferred so we can call you if the audition schedule changes
4. Instrument on which the musician will audition
5. Desired date for the audition

We strongly prefer that all auditions are scheduled by the Monday prior to the audition date. This year, that is 23 March.

Please be aware of the following:

1. We are able to offer a choice of date only if time is available on both days. Once all slots are filled on a given day, only the other day is available.
2. We CANNOT offer a choice of times. Slots will be filled on a given day in order, on a first-come-first-served basis. If there are extenuating circumstances, please mention them, but we may not be able to adjust to them.
3. Auditions on 27 March are from 6 to 9 PM. Auditions on 28 March are from 1 to 4 PM. Auditions are about seven minutes for winds, and 14 for percussion. Winds should bring their own instruments. Percussion need to bring sticks/mallets only — we supply the percussion instruments.

Musicians will be evaluated primarily on sight-reading ability, but all are welcome to play an excerpt of one’s own choice (less than a minute) to warm up and gauge the room. This excerpt will not be consider part of the audition, however.

Please also bring along a brief resume.

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

The 2020 Young Artist Competition will be held Wednesday, 22 April 2020, at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids. This is the tenth year of the competition. It would be wonderful to have you enter!

The competition is open to woodwind, brass, and percussion students in grades 9-12 who live or attend school in Linn County and participate in a school band program. The winner will be a featured guest soloist one week during the 2020 CRMB season (our 70th!), and will receive the Margaret Kegel Memorial Scholarship, worth $500. Deserving runners-up may also have an opportunity to perform with the band.

For more information, click this link for a poster, or write to Steve Shanley at sshanley@coe.edu by Friday, 3 April 2020.

The City Band Commission will meet in formal session at 7:00 PM on Sunday, 19 January 2020, in Marquis Hall at Coe College. Agenda includes, but is not limited to:

• Financial review
• Finalization of 2020 season
• Discussion of ongoing projects & equipment repairs
• Scheduling of auditions and discussion of known open positions.

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.

The City Band Commission will meet in formal session on Sunday, 15 September 2019, at 7:00 PM at Marquis Hall on the Coe College campus. The agenda includes (but is not limited to) financials for FY2019, current financials, venues for next season, and a discussion of the Boone Municipal Band Festival.

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.

We’re wrapping up the 2019 season–but first, we’ve got three more concerts to play!

Wednesday, July 31 at 7:30 pm — Noelridge Park
Saturday, Aug. 3 at 3 pm — Guthridge Park as part of Hiawatha Fun Fest
Sunday, Aug. 4 at 7:30 pm (6:30 Prelude concert) — Bever Park

At these performances:
• We feature our own Mauricio da Silva on “Funkinetics” — the funkiest clarinet solo you’ve ever heard — and on the world premiere of “The Farewell Choro.” The farewell is apt as Mauricio is returning to Brazil. It’s been an honor to have him in the band and we’re delighted to feature him.

• The band will perform highlights from the “The Jungle Book” and a medley of Dixieland favorites.
• Band member Dan Meier will perform Piazzolla’s “Oblivion” on trumpet.

• Washington High School student Paul Linville will sing the National Anthem and Cedar Rapids Song of Dedication.

• On Sunday night at Bever Park, the Liberty Band will perform a Prelude concert at 6:30.

Thank you for joining us all season long!

This week, join us for spectacular nights of music at Bowman Woods (Wed.) and Ellis Park (Sun.) — including the cool and cooling sounds of Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride! Music gets underway at 7:30 pm.

Also on the program:

• The band features its own members as Nick and Josh Carlo perform a humorous clarinet/bassoon duet and Aren Van Houzen dazzles the crowd on the piccolo trumpet

• The band performs highlights from the 2016 animated musical film, “Sing,” as well as favorites from jazz legend Louis Armstrong
• Kennedy High School student Bibiana Granadillo sings the National Anthem and Cedar Rapids Song of Dedication