The Lake Oswego Millennium Concert Band has just returned from Washington, D.C. where we performed a concert at a Military Retirement facility, played a concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial and spent a morning interacting and rehearsing with the U.S. Air Force Band. We placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery. In addition, we visited most of the Memorials that are tributes to the thousands of men and women who have served and made the ultimate sacrifice to assure Americans will continue to enjoy the freedoms and way of life our forefathers envisioned for us. Needless to say, we are brimming with patriotism and want to share these wonderful experiences with you through our music.
We invite you, your family and friends to join us on Sunday, July 3rd, the eve of our Nation’s birthday, at Millennium Plaza Park in downtown Lake Oswego for a concert that is designed to kindle your patriotic spirit.
Everything you hear at this concert will showcase America. We know you love marches, so we will perform five marches during this program. The Boys of Wexford, which was President Kennedy’s favorite march; The Black Horse Troop, composed by John Philip Sousa for Troop A of the Ohio National Guard; The President’s March by Henry Fillmore; The Chimes of Liberty which is one of our truly outstanding patriotic marches, written by Edwin Franko Goldman; and, of course, our National March, The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa. We open the program with a fitting title, Rhapsodic Celebration. You will enjoy selections from George Gershwin’s great American Folk Opera Porgy and Bess. And, to highlight our country’s love affair with popular big band swing music, we will perform Big Band Spectacular. Crowd-pleasers that round out our program are American Riversongs, Lassus Trombone and Strike Up the Band. During our traditional, very patriotic finale you will hear the always popular Salute to the Armed Forces, where we honor present and past members of our military services and others who have served us so well. As we always do, we will conclude our concert by playing the stirring arrangement by Carmen Dragon of America the Beautiful followed by our National March, The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa.
The intent of this program is to whet your Patriotic appetite, to make you proud to be an American and to entertain you in a way that is best accomplished by listening to a fine band in the park on a beautiful summer evening.
Please join us at Millennium Plaza Park in downtown Lake Oswego on July 3, 2016. Concert time is 7:00 pm, but come early to hear the Millennium Brass perform from 6:15-to 6:45. Bring your chairs, something to nibble on, and your patriotic spirit. We promise a thoroughly entertaining evening!
If we have inclement weather on July 3rd, the concert will be held at 7:00 pm in the auditorium at Lakeridge High School at 1235 Overlook Drive in Lake Oswego.
Dale Cleland, Director
Lake Oswego Millennium Concert Band