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“Americans We” Concert
Sunday
July 26, 2009
5:00 –
7:00pm
Pioneer
Park
corner of Park Avenue and Nimrod Street, Nevada City, CA
FREE
This is a terrific family concert that will appeal to all ages.
View
the program in PDF format.
See pictures from this concert!
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Everything is better with music,
especially a big band concert in the park. And this year’s band will be even bigger and better than
ever. The Nevada County Concert
Band presents its second of three Picnic & Pops Concerts at Nevada City’s
Pioneer Park on Sunday July 26, and promises great family-friendly music and
lots of fun with the theme “Americans We.” “Our current band is around
60 members strong already, and then we invite musicians from other bands to
join us for this day,” says conductor Cheryl Woldseth. This will be the sixth year that our
county band has hosted an invitational event at the July concert. “That brings us to about 115 people
this year, happily playing our hearts out in the Pioneer Park bandshell at a
free concert.” And they come from all
over, too – Sacramento, Sutter Creek, Cloverdale, Monterey, and many SF Bay
Area cities, with a few from even farther away, including Monrovia (SoCal),
Oregon, and Colorado. “Most
bands take the summer off, but the Nevada County Concert Band is at the
height of their performance season now,” says Woldseth. “Our guest musicians represent 52
other musical organizations, and we have some really talented people
performing with us this year. It
gets to be like a musician’s reunion, with people returning again and again
because they enjoy our beautiful town and people.” |
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Of course, the music itself
draws them to come, just like it does the audience to hear it. The program will start off with Aaron
Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” and then continue with many popular classics. The theme is “Americans We,” so
everything is written by Americans, for Americans, about Americans. The audience will be
treated to music by American composers, such as John Philip Sousa’s “Fugue on
Yankee Doodle,” Leonard Bernstein’s “America” from West Side Story, and
several movie themes by John Williams from Star Wars and Superman. Since Americans created jazz, you’ll
hear the “Original Dixieland Concerto” plus a “Salute to American Jazz” that
favors Dizzie Gillespie and Duke Ellington. In reflecting about Americans, the band will play
selections from George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess,” several folk songs, and a
stirring rendition of “America the Beautiful.” But it’s the special touches that make this band’s
concerts so special, and keeps the audience and musicians coming back for
more. The band interacts with
the audience, including everyone to make it less of a concert and more of an
event. They share stories
between numbers, and get off the stage for special effects. Expect to see the tuba section out
front in their feature number “Them Basses,” as well as a vocalist and a
Dixieland ensemble in other songs.
There’s a lot of action, with various band members standing for spot
solos, the audience dancing off to the side, and people enjoying their
picnics, or treats from the hot dog or ice cream vendors. And the concert is free, accessible,
and great for all ages. |
