The 72 members of the Lake Oswego Millennium Concert Band will be presenting their final formal concert of the season on May 7, 2017. The admission-free concert, beginning at 7:30 pm, will be held in the auditorium of Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego. This is one of the finest community bands in the United States evidenced by the fact that they are one of only six bands on the entire west coast to have received the coveted Silver Scroll Award. It is the highest award a community band can achieve and is presented by the John Phillip Sousa Foundation.
For this concert, the band has chosen not only a wide variety of musical styles, but also music by composers representing many countries and nationalities from throughout the world. The opening selection is by an American composer, Roland Barrett, titled Convergence. He states “this piece celebrates the power, energy and boundless spirit created by the convergence of cultures, beliefs and ideals represented in America”. The French classical composer Camille Saint-Saёns wrote one of the earliest major pieces for the concert band, Occident and Orient, in 1869. He described it as a grand concert march, but since it is very descriptive of the western and eastern musical styles, it has been classified as a tone poem and is among the “classics” of the concert band literature. The featured soloist for this concert will be Ken Peasley on trombone performing a very American style of Dixieland music, Slidin’ Down the Mississippi. It is a wonderful arrangement of three of the most popular Dixieland jazz pieces to come out of the deep south of the United States. Of interest to all local people, Ken Peasley, our soloist, grew up in Lake Oswego, is a graduate of Lakeridge High School and has been a member of the “Millennium Band” since its inception in 1999.
The first march of the evening, The Conqueror, was composed in 1889 by Carl Teike, a German composer and represents the typical German military style of precision marching. For many years, this march was one of the most popular marches in the world. To continue with the international flavor, one of the most respected American composers of band music, Alfred Reed, composed El Camino Real in 1984-85. It bears the subtitle of “A Latin Fantasy” and is truly a fine representative of the Spanish style of music. Dimitri Shostakovitch, one of the major Russian composers, wrote Spanish Dance, which was used in the 1955 Soviet film The Gadfly. It is a short, delightful piece that requires nimble fingers for many sections of our band. The Symphonic Highlights from the King and I, composed by Richard Rodgers, is from the Broadway musical and depicts the life and music of Siam. The composing genius of perhaps the best loved American composer of band music will be heard as the band plays The Washington Post March by John Philip Sousa. Three additional pieces of interest that will be heard during the program are Whispers from Beyond by Rossano Galante, Cole Porter On Broadway, and Seventy Six Trombones by Merideth Willson.
The doors open at 6:30 pm to allow you to browse the artwork of our local artists and to listen to music performed by the Millennium Brass Quintet. Please join us as we present a wonderful evening of art and music for your enjoyment.
Dale Cleland, Musical Director
Lake Oswego Millennium Concert Band
Lake Oswego Millennium Concert Band
Sunday Evening, May 7, 2017
Lakeridge High School Auditorium
1235 Overlook Drive
Lake Oswego, OR 97034
Doors open at 6:30 pm
Music (Millennium Brass Quintet) and art in the lobby
Concert begins at 7:30 pm
No admission charge