Oskaloosa Municipal Band Kicks Off 100th Year
The Oskaloosa City Band during one of the weekly performances held June until August every Thursday at 8:00 p.m.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Prepare yourselves for the kick-off of the 2012 Summer City Band concert season on Thursday night at 8 p.m. The band is directed by Bruce Peiffer, Director of Bands at North Mahaska Schools. This year marks his 6th season of conducting, although he has been active in the band for many years, playing saxophone, drums, and singing.
The band will play marches, overtures, movie and TV themes, and as always, there will be a “Western Overture”. “Hymn for a Child” is a variation of one of the first songs many of us learned in church as children. Can you guess what it will be?
This week’s featured soloist will be Andrea Dursky, who is now in her 37th year with the band. She will join the band for “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over” and “Beauty And The Beast”.
Each week, a different section of the band will be featured and introduced. The flutes are easy to find in the first row, thus we’ll begin with them. Kelly Godby is in her 6th year with the band, playing flute and piccolo. She keeps busy playing in the 34th Army Band and working in early childhood education. Ann Evans is in her 27th year with the band and works in the early childhood education field. Sally Hart is in her 26th year with the band. When she’s not playing flute, she plays organ, piano, bells and teaches piano. Michelle Stam is in her 6th year and recently graduated from Dordt College. Megan Dursky is in her 5th year with the band and recently began her freshman year at William Penn. Shaina Hansen completes the flute section. This is her 2nd year with the band. She will be attending William Penn this fall. As you can tell, the flute section is well rehearsed, with a combined 72 years of city band experience.
2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the current Bandstand. The first concert was played June 1, 1912. In commemoration of this event, there will be a prize drawing at the end of each concert. Local merchants have donated items to make the prize give-away possible. This week’s featured sponsoring merchant is True Value Hardware. True Value is located on the southeast corner of the square and is donating 2 lawn chairs. The winner will have great seats for the remaining concerts this summer. Audience members may sign up at the table at the base of the bandstand each week. Each week, the winner, who must be present to win, will be announced prior to the playing of the National Anthem.
In the event of inclement weather, the concert will be cancelled. Announcements will be available via KBOE, the band’s Facebook page (Oskaloosa City Band Fan Page) and Twitter (Oskaloosa City Band).
