Fans of the Marshall Municipal Band will have a pair of opportunities to hear the band this week.

The first will be Wednesday evening, July 18, in Grand Pass at the annual St. Luke's Church of Christ Ice Cream Social.

The second concert will be the regular Thursday evening concert on the east lawn of the Saline County Courthouse.

Both of these free concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Retired Carrollton Band Director Ron Schuler will pick up the baton for Director Kevin Lines.

"Ron has been active with both the band and the Marshall Philharmonic Orchestra for many years and is a natural to direct the band in my absence," Lines said.

Following "The Star Spangled Banner," the band will play a march by Roland Seitz titled "March Grandioso." "This particular arrangement has been edited by Andrew Glover, who has been a long-time friend of our band. In fact, before this work went to print, the Marshall High School Band and I had the opportunity to go through this march for Andy to proof the final copy," says Lines.

"Centennial" Overture by James Ployhar is a potpourri of melodies that were a prominent part of the history of the states of the upper Midwest. This medley includes: "Garryowen," "Across the Wide Missouri," "We Want Teddy Four More Years" and "God of Our Fathers."

Trumpeter and Marshall Municipal Band Board President Alan Criswell will be featured on the Hoagy Carmichael classic "Stardust."

"Carmichael was a master at writing memorable melodies and this arrangement was expertly prepared by Warren Barker," said Lines.

The band returns again to the pen of James Ployhar, this time with his beautiful arrangement of the Southern mountain song "He's Gone Away." It will be followed with the medley "The Good Old USA." This work includes the melodies "A Bicycle Built for Two," "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," "In My Merry Oldsmobile," "Seventy-Six Trombones," "This Land Is Your Land," "When The Saints Go Marching In," "You're A Grand Old Flag" and "Mary's A Grand Old Name."

The band tips its hat to the state of Oklahoma with highlights from "Oklahoma." This year marks the centennial of Oklahoma's statehood and the band will honor that occasion with the very first musical collaboration from the pens of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. This duo created many of the most successful musicals ever produced on Broadway.

Leroy Anderson and John Philip Sousa are two more of America's most successful composers. The band will first play Anderson's tuneful "Serenata" and then "The Washington Post," a march by Sousa. His band enjoyed tremendous success with this march because it paired so well with the new dance step of the time, the two-step.

The closing trilogy begins with Robert Foster's "Appalachian Hymn." This work uses the well-known Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts." Clare Grundman's "Spirit of '76" is based on songs of the time of George Washington and the American Revolution. This medley includes "Washington's March At Trenton," "Yankee Doodle," "Norah, Dear Norah," "Girls and Boys" and "Chester."

The concert will conclude with the traditional march "Uncle Sammy."