Marshall band provides local audience with preview of convention performance

"This is a special concert for us as we are preparing to perform at the Missouri Bandmasters Convention this Sunday evening at Lake Ozark. This is the same concert we will perform for the summer convention of Missouri band directors," says director Kevin Lines.

The concert will begin with "The Star Spangled Banner," which will be followed with the John Philip Sousa march "The Diplomat."

"Sousa wrote this march in 1904 and dedicated it to Secretary of State John Milton Hay, whose diplomatic prowess had impressed Sousa," Lines said.

The first overture of the evening is Morton Gould's "American Salute." Using the Civil War marching song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" as his only thematic material, Gould created a masterpiece literally overnight, according to Lines.

"He was writing for the NBC orchestra and was told they needed a patriotic work on the musicians' stands at 11 a.m. the next day. Not only did he meet the deadline, but he created a work that is still hugely popular to this day," adds Lines.

The next work is a new addition to the band's library.

"This work was a vocal sextet from the opera 'Lucia di Lammermoor' by Gaetano Donizetti. Composer Andrew Glover has transcribed this work for brass sextet with band accompaniment," Lines said.

Featured in the work will be Alan Criswell and Sarah Eckhoff on trumpet, Brandon McDannald on horn, Dave Meyer and Eric Eckhoff on trombone and Director Kevin Lines on euphonium.

Ron Schuler will assume the role of conductor on this work.

The band's next work, "Funiculi, Funicula," which is an Alfred Reed arrangement of a work by Luigi Denza, is a technical showpiece for the band.

After displaying their technical prowess, the band will showcase their lyrical side with the James Barnes work, "Yorkshire Ballad."

The band turns to the music of a Missouri composer with the next work "Ha'Penny March" by John Cheetham.

"Cheetham was a long-time member of the faculty at the University of Missouri in Columbia," Lines said. "This work won first prize in the 1992 Abraham Frost Competition sponsored by the University of Miami School of Music."

Lines has next selected Warren Barker's arrangement of cinema classics titled "Hollywood!" The clarinet section will be featured in the following work, "Clarinets Allegro." And from there the band will turn to Carl Teike's classic German march "Old Comrades."

"At Dawn They Slept (December 7, 1941)" is a 2002 composition by Jay Bocook. This work depicts the U.S. military presence at Pearl Harbor in the days preceding the surprise attack on U.S. naval forces, Lines said.

The band turns to circus music with the Karl L. King march, "The Center Ring."

"King learned that titles are an important aspect of musical success. The work was first titled 'Atta-Boy' and its initial printing of only 500 copies took over 20 years to sell out. Believing in the merit of the composition he re-printed the work under the new title 'The Center Ring,'" Lines said.

The closing trilogy will begin with Jack Stamp's "Chorale Prelude: Be Thou My Vision."

"This is a beautiful and haunting version of the well-known hymn," adds Lines.

The patriotic work for the evening is Clare Grundman's "The Spirit of '76."

This work is based on songs of the time of George Washington and the American Revolution, Lines said.

Selections included in this work are: "Washington's March At Trenton," "Yankee Doodle," "Norah, Dear Norah," "Girls and Boys," and the well-known hymn "Chester."

The concert will conclude as it has for many years with "Uncle Sammy."

"This will truly be an exciting concert and we hope that you will take the opportunity to come hear the Marshall Municipal Band as they prepare for their special performance for the Missouri Bandmasters," Lines said.