Oskaloosa City Band Set To Perform On A Warm July 5th Evening
The Oskaloosa Municipal Band plays every Thursday evening through the summer. This year, celebrating 100 years of the bandstand.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – On Thursday night at 8 p.m., the Oskaloosa City Band will celebrate our nation’s independence with a patriotic themed concert. The band will play a variety of marches, including: Karl King’s “Free World March”, John Philip Sousa’s “The Washington Post” and “Stars and Stripes Forever”.
Honoring our military heroes, the band will play the “Armed Forces March”. As Andrea Dursky sings each branch’s theme, veterans are encouraged to stand and be recognized for their service to our country.
Andrea Dursky will also join the band in singing “Voices of America”, a patriotic piece published by our own Barnhouse Publishing. Another Barnhouse piece, “When Honor Prevails” by James Swearingen, was written to portray how honor has been so important in our nation’s history.
When we think of our great country, we may think of “America The Beautiful”. “Amber Waves of Grain” is a symphonic rhapsody based on this beloved tune.
“God Bless America” was originally written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and was revised in 1938 and recorded by Kate Smith. More recently, Celine Dion recorded and performed this song, to raise funds for the victims and their families, of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Iowa native, Glenn Miller was born in Clarinda, in 1904. He became one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943 and led the Glenn Miller Orchestra. In 1944, he disappeared over the English Channel while traveling to entertain U.S. troops during WWII. The band will play a medley of Glenn Miller tunes, including: “In The Mood”, “Tuxedo Junction”, “A String of Pearls”, “Little Brown Jug”, and “Pennsylvania 6-5000”.
For this week’s “Fiery Overture based on a Western Theme”, Director Bruce Peiffer, once again commissioned a piece by Eric Songer for the band. “Western Trilogy” is a medley of theme songs from well known western television shows. “Big Valley” was on ABC from 1965 to 1969, “Gunsmoke” was originally a radio show from 1952 to 1961 and later was a TV show from 1955 to 1975, and “Bonanza” was on NBC from 1959 to 1973.
This week the band would like to introduce the trumpet section. They will be featured in LeRoy Anderson’s piece entitled, “Bugler’s Holiday”.
Tom Richardson is in his 25th year in the band. He works at Cargill, serves on the Oskaloosa School Board, and met his wife 17 years ago while playing in the band. You may see his daughters at the prize drawing sign-up table each week this summer.
Carolyn Brickley has spent the last 32 years playing in the band and working as the Elementary Music teacher at North Mahaska Schools. She plays in several other big band groups in the Grinnell and Cedar Rapids areas. She has been a foster parent to 35 children and hosted 10 foreign exchange students over the years. Despite her busy schedule, she states her “most challenging job is keeping director, Bruce Peiffer in line at North Mahaska”.
Rich Waddington is in his second year playing in the band. Originally, a graduate from Simpson College, he has spent 12 years teaching instrumental music. He is currently the instrumental music teacher at Oskaloosa High School. He is married and has 2 children, ages 8 and 3.
Matt Walker is in his 5th year in the band. He is an engineer at Garden and Associates. He states he “appreciates the support of family” and his “dog appreciates the free popcorn” each week while he plays in the band.
Nicole McCrea is in her 3rd year with the band. She is a recent graduate of Oskaloosa High School and will be attending Iowa State University this fall. She will be double majoring in Music and Dietetics and has plans to play in the Cyclone Marching Band this fall. She also works at Fareway.
Taylor Overton has played in the band 6 years. He is a second generation band member. His father, Joe, plays in the percussion section. Taylor is a sophomore at Indian Hills majoring in music.
Becky Berg has played with the band for several years when needed. She has worked for the Oskaloosa School District for 9 years.
Riley Berg, daughter of Becky, is in her first year in the band. She will be a junior at Oskaloosa High School this fall.
This week’s pre-concert entertainment will be provided by Beth Brostrom’s students at Music Square. The students will perform on the square from 6:45 until 7:30. In the event of inclement weather, the music students will perform at the mall.
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary, each week, there will be a prize drawing near the end of the concert. This week’s featured sponsor is Tschetter’s Flowers. This week’s prize is a gift certificate for a fresh flower bouquet. Please sign up at the table at the base of the bandstand. Each week, the winner, who must be present to win, will be announced prior to the playing of the National Anthem.
It looks like the weather will remain very warm for this week’s concert. Come downtown early to grab a shady spot and enjoy free refreshments provided by Hawkeye Real Estate, First National Bank Midwest, and Snow Biz.
