This material covers the 3rd concert – Friday, June 17th, 2011, 8:30p – 9:30p Site: Medina’s Uptown Park Square (intersections of Rts 18, 42, Broadway and Liberty Street)
Cancellation of concerts due to the weather will be posted on the website! MEDINA: Medina Community Band will continue the 2011 summer season, a celebration of 152 years of presenting community concerts in Medina, on Friday, June 17th, 2011, at 8:30p, in Medina’s Uptown Park Square Gazebo. Featured soloists on this hour-long concert will be: Sue McLaughlin, piccolo, and Denise Milner Howell, vocal soloist. The Medina Community Band is under the baton of conductor Marcus Neiman and associate conductor Curtis Amrein. Special guest conductors will be David Adamson, of Highland Heights (OH). The 60 minute concert will feature works by Rossini, Alexander, Liberati, Maltby, Lowry, Gershwin, Anderson, Daehn, Fillmore, and Sousa. Medina Community Band is sponsored by the Medina Community Band Association, a standing committee of the Medina Breakfast Kiwanis Club. Please note the following change in play list for the concert!
Star Spangled Banner (Key/Sousa) Tancredi (Rossini/Falcone) – Curtis Amrein conducting Southerner (Alexander) – Curtis Amrein conducting Rondo from Clarinet Concerto (Mozart/x) – Mary Ann-Grof-Neiman, clarinet soloist Waltz No 2. (Shostakovich/Curnow) Manhattan Beach (Sousa) (We Shall) Gather at the River (Lowery/Copland/Seiberling) – Denise Milner Howell, mezzo-soprano soloist ‘S Wonderful (Gershwin/Barker) – Denise Milner Howell, mezzo-soprano soloist With Quiet Courage (Daehn) – David Adamson, guest conductor His Honor (Fillmore) – David Adamson, guest conductor Shoutin’ Liza Trombone (Fillmore) Hosts of Freedom (King) Stars and Stripes Forever (Sousa) God Bless America (Berlin/Leidzen) Featured Soloists   In addition to performing, Ms. Howell is an active voice teacher. She currently teaches at Ashland University, and has served on the voice faculties of the University of Akron School of Music, and the State University of New York College at Fredonia. Ms. Howell earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in music education from Long Island University/CW Post College, and a Master of Music degree in vocal performance from New England Conservatory of Music. She lives in Sharon Township, Ohio with her husband, Gregg, and their two sons, Miles and Wesley. She will be performing At the River (Lowry-Copland-Seiberling) and ‘S Wonderful from Funny Face (Gershwin-Barker). Guest Conductor
 Conductors  He received his bachelor of science in music education degree from The University of Akron; master of music in music education degree from The University of Michigan; and, post-degree doctorial work at The Kent State University. He is a member of the 1993-94 class of Leadership Medina County. Neiman remains active with Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA), having served as state president of that organization from 1998-2000, and currently serves as a woodwind adjudicator and state historian. He is the recipient OMEAs highest honor, the “Distinguished Service Award,” presented to him on January 29th, 2010. Neiman is the artistic director and founding conductor of the professional concert band – The Sounds of Sousa Band and appears throughout the nation as a guest clinician and conductor. Marcus and his wife Mary Ann, who is a professional clarinetist and program administrator - preparatory and continuing education department for the Cleveland Institute of Music, reside in Medina with their two cats Sasha and Dmitri. Marcus has two daughters (Nancy and Jennifer) from a previous marriage, three granddaughters, one grandson, and a godson.  Curtis received his bachelor's degree in music education from The Ohio State University in 2004, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. While there, Mr. Amrein performed with the Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, and Symphony Orchestra. He is a trumpet student of Timothy Leasure and was the 2004 recipient of the Richard Burkart Trumpet Award. Curtis' conducting teachers include Dr. Richard Blatti and Marcus Neiman. Mr. Amrein serves as both an associate conductor and trumpet player with the Medina Community Band. He also performs with the Sounds of Sousa Band, also under the direction of Marcus Neiman. Curtis is an active member of the Ohio Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education (MENC), and Ohio Education Association. The 2011 season is Curtis’ first as associate conductor of Medina Community Band. Program Notes Star Spangled Banner (John Stafford Smith arranged by John Philip Sousa) uses lyrics from a poem written in 1914 by Francis Scott Key, a then 35-year-old amateur poet after seeing the bombardment of Fort McHenry at Baltimore, Maryland, by Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812. The poem was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song, written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a London social club. Set to Key’s poem and renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner,” it would soon become a well-known American patriotic song. It was recognized for official use by the United States Navy in 1889 and the President in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. § 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover. Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of American officialdom. Most prominent among them was “Hail, Columbia” which served as the de facto national anthem from Washington’s time and through the 18th and 19th centuries. Following the War of 1812 and subsequent American wars, other songs would emerge to complete for popularity at public events, among them “The Star Spangled Banner.”  Tancredi premiered in 1813 at La Fenice Theatre in Venice. The two act melodrama, by Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi, based on Voltaire’s play Tancréde (1759). The overture, borrowed from La pietra del paragone, is one of the best examples of Rossini’s characteristic style and has become a regular part of the concert and recording repertoire. While Rossini first composed the opera with ending in mind, he eventually had poet Luigi Lechi rework the libretto to emulate the original tragic ending by Voltaire. The change, and of course Rossini’s masterful writing propelled Tancredi to the ranks of one of his greatest masterworks. The plot, so typical to the operatic trauma-drama revolves around Tancredi, an exiled and dispossessed warrior, and his beloved Amenaide. Together the confront intrigue, suspicion, and devotion in a city beset by civil strife and facing an invading army. The original ending has Tancredi winning the war, returning alive to marry his beloved Amenaide; unfortunately for Tancredi, but fortunately for opera fans, the revised ending has Tancredi winning the war and returning dead.  Alexander suffered from poor health, and died in Liberty, New York at the age of 38 on October 2, 1915. Over the course of his career he composed some 31 marches, six gallops, three overtures and several other works. Several of his marches are considered standard repertoire, and remain popular to this day. March “The Southerner” is one of Russell Alexander’s most popular compositions. A strong introduction, interesting melodies and countermelodies, exciting modulations in the trio, and dynamic changes that lift the listener out of his seat – these are the features of this stirring march. The dedication on the original solo-cornet-conductor part was short and sweet: “To my wife.” Alexander wrote another march, titled The Southerners, and also dedicated it to his wife – the original manuscript, still unpublished, is at the Circus World museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin.  Mozart originally wrote the work for basset clarinet, a special clarinet championed by Stadler that had a range down to low (written) C, instead of stopping at (written) E as standard clarinets do.  The Suite for Variety Orchestra (post-1956) is a suite of eight movements consisting of a collection derived from other works by the composer. The Waltz No. 2 is a delightful and unexpected gift from the composer.
 Allesandro Liberati was born in Frascati, Italy, to Carlo and Felicetta Liberati, both musicians. A naturally gifted musician, by the time he was 12, he was already making public performances on cornet.
His acclaim spread to the United States and Patrick Gilmore invited him to appear as a special soloist in Boston (MA) for the Peace Jubilee of 1872. The next year, Liberati was offered the directorship of the Canadian Artillery Bands in Ottawa (CA) by Lord Bufferin. In 1875, he organized the Detroit National Guard Band and the Detroit Police Bugle Band, taking both of those organizations to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. In 1889, he organized his own concert band, Liberati’s Grand Military Band, which toured widely throughout the United States and Canada.
He still continued to play throughout his life and well into his seventies (and with wooden false teeth), he appeared as cornet soloist.
Following in the footsteps of Patrick Gilmore, Sousa became a popular figure at Manhattan Bach, the famous New York summer resort. One of his most lavish medals was presented to him in 1894 by the proprietor, Austin Corbin, and other shareholders. The previous season, Sousa had dedicated the march Manhattan Beach to Corbin, and one of his manuscripts in inscribed to him. Sousa once told a reporter that the march had been derived from an earlier composition, probably “The Phoenix March” (1875): I wrote ‘Manhattan Beach’ while playing a summer engagement at that once-popular resort, using as the basis an old march I had composed when I was with Milton Nobles. Manhattan Beach became a stable of bands all over the world, but the Sousa Band performed it differently by playing the trio and last section as a short description piece. In this interpretation, soft clarinets arpeggios suggest the rolling ocean waves as one strolls along the beach. A band is heard in the distance. It grows louder and then fades away as the stroller continues along the beach.  Robert Lowry (pictured at left) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 12th March 1826. He studied theology at the University of Lewisburg and on graduating, in 1854, became ordained as a Baptist minister. He had charge of churches in a number of places including New York, Brooklyn, West Chester, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In 1869 he returned to Lewisburg as a faculty member (having previously served as a professor of literature) and later went on to become its chancellor. From 1880 until 1886 he was president of the New Jersey Baptist Sunday School Union. He is most remembered as a composer of gospel music and a hymn writer, and also worked as a music editor at the Biglow Publishing Company. He was responsible for around 500 compositions, including Beautiful River and Nothing But the Blood. Despite his success as a hymn writer, it was as a preacher that Lowry would have preferred to be recognized. He once stated: "Music, with me has been a side issue... I would rather preach a gospel sermon to an appreciative audience than write a hymn. I have always looked upon myself as a preacher and felt a sort of depreciation when I began to be known more as a composer." Lowry was married with three sons and died in Plainfield, New Jersey on 23rd November 1899. Shall We Gather At the River? (or simply At the River) is a traditional Christian hymn, written by Robert Lowry and arranged by many including Aaron Copland.  ‘S Wonderful is a popular song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics written by Ira Gershwin. It was introduced in the Broadway music Funny Face (1927) by Adele Astaire and Allen Kearns. The song was included in the 1951 music An American in Paris where it was sung by Gene Kelly, as well as in the 1957 American musical film Funny Face, in which it was performed by Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. Larry Daehn was born in Rosendale, Wisconsin, in 1939 and grew up on the farms of that state. He received a B.A. in Musical Education from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh in 1964 and his master’s degree in 1976 from the University of Wisconsin at Platteville. He has been a teacher of music for 33 years; the last 27 of them at the New Glaris (WI) High School. A past president of the Wisconsin chapter of Phi Beta Mu, he was honored by that organization as Outstanding Bandmaster. Daehn has composed With Quiet Courage, in memory of his mother, and As Summer Was Just Beginning. An avid admirer of Percy Grainger, he has written several arrangements of that composer's melodies and an article on the Grainger Museum. He is the owner of Daehn Publications. With Quiet Courage Her life was heroic, but without fanfare. With those words, Larry Daehn dedicated this composition to the memory of his mother. He describes her as a brave woman who raised her family through the hardships of farm life in Wisconsin. Despite the loss of both legs due to diabetes, she lived with nobility and quiet courage. She loved to sing. These qualities are evident in this composition, which was written in the summer of 1995 following Lois Daehn's death. It is a song that is passed between the horns, saxophones, a solo trumpet, percussion, and finally to the full ensemble. Building from a quiet pianissimo to the strength of a fortissimo, it concludes with the gentle chords symbolic of the open Wisconsin farmland and a full and rewarding life. With Quiet Courage was premiered by the U.S. Navy Band in our nation's capital in 1995.  Henry Fillmore was one of our most prolific composers with 256 compositions to his record and almost 800 arrangements. He published under various pseudonyms as well as his own name: Henry Fillmore -114; Gus Beans – 2; Harold Bennett – 65; Ray Hall – 3; Harry Hartley – 6; Al Hayes – 57; Will Huff – 8; and Henrietta Moore – 1.According to Herb Block, Henry got into a conflict with his father (who composed and published liturgical music in Cincinnati) over the kind of music that Henry was composing. Henry liked march music and said, “I will huff and puff and I will write my own music.” Hence, the name Will Huff.
Fillmore was a true free spirit. He was brought up by a conservative family in a conservative town. When he couldn’t do as he wished, he ran away with a circus and played trombone in the circus band. To top it all off, he married an exotic dancer.
 Henry Fillmore gained fame as the Father of the Trombone Smear wrote a series of 15 novelty characteristic tunes featuring trombone smears called “The Trombone Family. Written in strong ragtime or Vaudeville style, the smear features the trombone section. Shoutin’ Liza Trombone was the eighth characteristic smear composed by Fillmore.  Ohio composer Karl King probably wrote Hosts of Freedom (1920) as a fast circus march, as a finale for the elephant act by the circus band in residence. What is so wonderful about the march is how well it flows. Karl Lawrence King began studying cornet at age eleven and later switched to baritone. His formal education ended around the 6th or 8th grade, but that in no way hindered his accomplishments. Through 1918, he mostly was a performer and sometimes leader of circus bands. At that time, he unsuccessfully applied to be Sousa's assistant. Sousa did, however, recommend King for a bandmaster position in the army. He reported for duty on the very day World War I ended, and he did not serve any time in active duty. After the War ended, he started his own thriving publishing business and directed various bands. For the last fifty years of his life he was always involved with music.  The march was not quite so well received though and actually got an over average rating for a new Sousa march. Yet, its popularity grew as Mr. Sousa used it during the Spanish-American War as a concert closer. Coupled with his Trooping of the Colors , the march quickly gained a vigorous response from audiences and critics alike. In fact, audiences rose from their chairs when the march was played. Mr. Sousa added to the entertainment value of the march by having the piccolo(s) line up in front of the band for the final trio, and then added the trumpets and trombones join them on the final repeat of the strain. The march was performed on almost all of Mr. Sousa’s concerts and always drew tears to the eyes of the audience. The author has noted the same emotional response of audiences to the march today. The march has been named as the national march of The United States. There are two commentaries of how the march was inspired. The first came as the result of an interview on Mr. Sousa’s patriotism. According to Mr. Sousa, the march was written with the inspiration of God. “I was in Europe and I got a cablegram that my manager was dead. I was in Italy and I wished to get home as soon as possible, I rushed to Genoa, then to Paris and to England and sailed for America. On board the steamer as I walked miles up and down the deck, back and forth, a mental band was playing ‘Stars and Stripes Forever.’ Day after day as I walked it persisted in crashing into my very soul. I wrote it on Christmas Day, 1896.”
“In a kind of dreamy way, I used to think over old days at Washington when I was leader of the Marine Band ... when we played at all public functions, and I could see the Stars and Stripes flying from the flagstaff in the grounds of the White House just as plainly as if I were back there again.” “Then I began to think of all the countries I had visited, of the foreign people I had met, of the vast differences between America and American people and other countries and other peoples, and that flag our ours became glorified ... and to my imagination it seemed to be the biggest, grandest, flag in the world, and I could not get back under it quick enough.” “It was in this impatient, fretful state of mind that the inspiration to compose ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever’ came to me.”  With music written by Richard A. Whiting (at left) and lyrics by Raymond B. Egan, the song tells of the parting of a soldier and his sweetheart. As Whiting’s sister Margaret tells it, the song was intended for a 1918 contest at a Detroit Theater. Dissatisfied with the results, Whiting threw the manuscript in the trash. His secretary retrieved it and showed it to their boss, publisher Jerome Remick, who submitted it in the contest, where it won top honors.
The Medina Community Band Marcus Neiman, conductor
Friday Evening, June 17, 2011 8:30 p.m.
Program
National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner (1931)... Francis Scott Key/John Philip Sousa Overture, Tancredi (1813).............................................. Gioachino Rossini/Leonard Falcone
March, Southerner (1908)................................................................... Russell Alexander Solo, Rondo from Clarinet Concerto.............................................................. (Mozart)
Mary Ann-Grof-Neiman, clarinet soloist
March, Manhattan Beach (1893)........................................................ John Philip Sousa Dance, Waltz No. 2 (post 1956).......................................... Dmitri Shostakovich/James Curnow Vocal solos
At the River (1864)....................................................................................... Robert Lowry
1954 Setting by Aaron Copland\David Seiberling
Funny Face – ‘S Wonderful (1927).................................. George Gershwin/Warren Barker
Denise Milner Howell, mezzo-soprano soloist Patriotic, With Quiet Courage (1995) ....................................................... Larry Daehn David Adamson, guest conductor March, His Honor (1934)........................................................................ Henry Fillmore
Trombone Characteristic, Shoutin’ Liza (1920) .................................... Henry Fillmore March, Hosts of Freedom (1920) ..................................................................... Karl L. King National March, The Stars and Stripes Forever (1896)........................ John Philip Sousa Patriotic, God Bless America (1938)........................................ Irving Berlin/Erik Leidzen
Medina Community Band Personnel for this concert
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