Posts Tagged ‘Racine Concert Band’
2014 Racine Concert Band Season Continues Tomorrow . . .
Folks, I didn’t manage to get up a reminder about the Racine Concert Band summer concerts at the Racine Zoo in July . . . at least, I don’t remember doing so. But we have four more free concerts left out at the Zoo, and I figured I’d get over here and say a few brief words about tomorrow night’s 7:00 P.M. concert to whet your interest.
Tomorrow night’s concert features trumpet soloist Mark Eichner and xylophone soloist Nicholas Stainbrook — and if you’re a longtime reader of my blog, you’re probably going, “Mark Eichner? Isn’t he the conductor of the band? How can he play a solo?”
I could be sarcastic and say, “Very easily, thank you.” (Oops, I just was.) Because we have a guest conductor for two pieces, our regular euphonium player Paul Taylor (who led a high school band for many years in the Kenosha Unified School District — Bradford High, I think) will conduct two pieces — Eichner’s trumpet solo “Beautiful Colorado,” which is a virtuosic waltz for trumpet and concert band, and “The Florentiner” march directly before the solo.
This concert interests me more than most of the others because I’m playing the first clarinet parts instead of the second alto saxophone parts. I even have a solo on Chaminade’s “Scarf Dance,” which is a piece of French band music with the characteristic French harmonies (love that stuff, truly), and have a number of very good and very melodic parts. (We haven’t seen much of that in the saxophone section so far this summer. Depends on the year what we get, of course.)
Other things that may interest you: My usual stand-mate, Vivian Krenzke, will have an extended alto saxophone solo on “Spiritual,” and Vera Olguin will have several solos on both flute and piccolo among the woodwinds. Dave Kapralian and others in the cornet and trumpet section have some interesting parts, and our substitute first horn player (sorry, I don’t know her name; she’s a dark-haired woman with a robust sound and exquisite musicianship) will have a lengthy solo in one of the French pieces also.
Mind, there’s a good amount of music people who usually go to band concerts will recognize — Percy Grainger’s “Country Gardens,” several marches, including John Philip Sousa’s “King Cotton,” and a waltz from the ballet “Coppelia.” (This last is something you often hear on television commercials in vastly shortened form.) And did I mention this concert is absolutely free yet?
All you have to do, if you want to come out and see it, is go to one of the two side entrances to the Racine Zoo. (That way, you’re getting in for nothing. Besides, the front entrances should be closed by the time you get there at six-thirty or so to grab a spot on the lawn.) Bring a blanket or a lawn chair, and prepare to be captivated by sound.
See you tomorrow evening at 7:00!
——
P.S. After the concert, please make sure to tell your local alderman and/or Racine Mayor John Dickert how much you enjoy our absolutely free Zoo concerts. Because we still need your support — badly.
About to Play a Concert
In an hour, I’ll be playing a concert with the Racine Concert Band over at Mound Cemetery to commemorate Flag Day.
For those of you who live in the Racine area, please feel free to stop by and give us a listen.
(Yes, this is a mini-blog. And no, I still don’t feel particularly well — but I’m not about to let that stop me. I’ve had tea and toast and am dressed to play. So here goes . . . something?)
Quick Update, November 2013 Style
Folks, I haven’t had much time to write blogs or do much of anything this week aside from a spot of editing and a teensy bit of fiction writing.
There is, of course, a reason for that. Unfortunately, it’s the usual one: I’m under the weather. (Again.)
As I continue to fight for better health, I’m also continuing my fight to get the Racine Concert Band fully funded for 2014. And I do have news in that quarter — the RCB has been funded for next year, albeit at a much lesser level.
What this means is twofold: the RCB will continue. (Yay!) But the RCB will have eight performances rather than thirteen, one being the City of Racine July 4th Parade, and will become a summer band only. (Boo!)
I’m not sure what else I can do, if anything at all, to affect the outcome. But whatever I can do, I will.
Anyway, as for what I plan for the upcoming week — over at SBR, I plan to review one non-fiction book tomorrow, BATTLESHIP (about the horse, not the game), and will have an interview with author Stephanie Osborn up by the end of next week. And here at my blog, I plan to discuss the World Series (the good, the bad, and the really odd) along with a brief bit about Carlos Gomez winning the first Gold Glove for the Milwaukee Brewers since 1982. (Mind you, had Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin kept shortstop J.J. Hardy, we would’ve had two by now, as Hardy won in both 2012 and 2013 over in the American League.)
And, as always, if there’s anything that says to me, “Write about me right now,” I promise I’ll do just that.
For now, though, it’s back to some mint tea and soup (which is simmering in the stove even as I write this), in the hopes that by taking it easy I’ll be able to work up a storm tomorrow. (Here’s hoping.)
Practice Tonight, Concert Tomorrow
This week, I obviously haven’t blogged very much, and there’s a reason for that.
You see, even though I’m still far more “off” than “on” and have little energy due to being sick for nearly three months in a row, I was asked months ago to play a concert tomorrow evening at the Case High School theatre in Racine, Wisconsin with the Racine Concert Band. (I regularly play with the RCB, but mostly in the summer months.)
And of course, at the time, I said yes.
When this concert’s first rehearsal came up a few weeks ago, I told them that I was still recovering from bronchitis and that a new therapy had been started. (True.) I had hopes the new therapy would help, but I didn’t know how long that it would take to restore my energy level to the point where I could play. So I said at that point that I’d prefer not to play this concert — not because I didn’t want to play, but because I feared I would be completely and totally unable to play.
An aside: My degrees are in music performance, mostly. (My Bachelor’s of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside had enough credits that I could’ve taken a degree beyond music, had I wished, and I certainly had enough credits for both an English and history minor, if Parkside did minors. But I didn’t.) So performing music in front of people, no matter how terribly I feel at the time, is what I’ve trained for my entire life.
This is why, when the RCB wasn’t able to get a substitute clarinet player — they thought they had one, but that person backed out — I decided to play the concert and the subsequent rehearsals, even knowing that the rehearsals would take a good deal of my available energy along with my available concentration, and also would keep me from blogging very much or doing much in the way of editing, either.
Of course, there’s no guarantee even without playing this concert, as lousy as I’ve felt, that I’d have been able to do that much more. I’ve been told that I’m exhausted for the past five or six months, including before I was diagnosed in mid-April with acute bronchitis. And while for a time I was able to keep “bulling through” and accomplishing what I needed to accomplish as a writer, editor and musician, after that bronchitis hit me I had nothing left to “bull through” with.
What I’m trying to do now is to manage the exhaustion, get as much rest as I possibly can, and to limit stress. These are not easy things for me to do at all, but because I was able to do some of them, plus that medical therapy I discussed before (basically I’m taking twice as much of one type of medicine as before in order to limit acid reflux, as reflux plays into both bronchitis and asthma), I’ve been able to play the rehearsals and will play tomorrow’s concert. (Well, tonight‘s concert, as it’s clicked over past midnight as I’ve been editing this.)
Now, am I playing very well right now? In my own personal (and professional) estimation, no, I’m not. I’m at about fifty, maybe sixty percent of what I’m capable of when I’m healthy. (And that’s not what I’m capable of when I’m at the top of my game, mind you — that’s just when I’m healthy and able to play.) So I’ve been able to completely learn the parts, which is good, but I’m not able to fully play them, which isn’t.
What I’m doing to compensate for the areas I can’t play is to take longer breathing breaks than normal, so I don’t get too tired out to play. (I’ve also been smart about taking my asthma inhaler and such, as there’s no need to be any more stupid than I must.) And if I have to, I take things in two- or four-measure chunks . . . whatever it takes in order to play the music as written, at least as much of it as I’m able to play at this time.
But the band knew this. The conductor knew this. And they still wanted me to play.
Which is why I will take the stage and do my best on May 16, 2013, at 7:30 p.m. out at Case High School in Racine. The RCB has one “combined piece” with the Case High School’s best and/or senior class musicians, plus four other pieces by Robert Ward, Germaine Tailleferre, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Percy Grainger. The “big piece” is Tailleferre’s “Suite Divertimento,” written in 1977. It’s a mixture of 20th century French and Renaissance idioms, and if we play it as well as we’re capable of, it should be most impressive.
However, the piece I actually enjoy the most is “Prairie Overture” by Robert Ward. Ward is an underrated American composer who died in April at the age of 95, and his piece was written in 1957 for concert band and was only later transcribed by Ward for the orchestra. (Usually a composer writes for orchestra first and band later, if at all, which is why the concert band repertoire consists of so many arrangements.) This piece sounds both American and Western in flavor and style, but has some unique orchestration throughout that was Ward’s trademark.
I’m uncertain how many people in Racine even know about my blog, much less read it regularly. But if you live in Racine and you enjoy real, live music played by real, live musicians, you owe it to yourself to get yourself out to Case High School on Thursday night and hear these pieces for yourself.
As for my plans for after the concert, I plan to take it very slowly until I regain some more energy or strength, even though I really hate having to do so. The medical people I’ve consulted have all told me that since it took months to wreck my health, it’ll take months for me to regain the energy I no longer have. And the only way to regain that energy is to be smart, stay within myself, and try not to push myself overmuch.
All I can do right now is promise that I’ll do things as I’m able, as my health allows. This wasn’t a situation I’d expected to get into by any means, so I have no “playbook” in order to help me get back out of it.
That’s why you may, or may not, see regular blogs from me over the summer months as I do my best to slowly regain my health, strength and stamina. But if I’m able, I’ll continue to comment on whatever strikes my fancy, just as I’ve always done, in the hopes that it’ll intrigue you. Inflame you.
Or at least keep you amused. (Whatever works.)
Support Your Local Musicians
Tonight, the Racine Concert Band played a concert at Horlick High School. We played four pieces alone, and with the section leaders from Horlick’s Symphonic Band, we played Dmitry Shostakovich’s “Folk Dances.”
Now, we’re fortunate in Racine that people do come to the Racine Concert Band’s concerts — whether they’re the free ones in the summer over at the Racine Zoo, or in combination with local high schools. We tend to have good, solid audiences who appreciate what we do; they enjoy live music, and want to hear more of it.
And that’s what I wanted to talk about — live music. And hearing more of it.
The easiest way to support live music is simply this — go to a concert, and support your local musicians.
I can hear some of you now. “But I live out in the middle of nowhere! We don’t have any musicians here — we can’t have any here! So what am I to do?”
In that case, I’d urge you to look around, because there probably are more musicians around than you might think. But whatever area you live in, you need to get out there and listen to some live music.
And for those of you fortunate enough to live in a big metropolitan area, do me a favor. Don’t limit yourself to the symphony orchestra, though that often is a great place to go for good music; go out and watch whatever music you can, as there’s probably much more going on in your area than you might be aware of.
Consider, please, that in Racine, we have several high school music programs, all of which have their own strengths — these are at The Prairie School, at Racine Lutheran, at Case, at Park, and of course at Horlick. These programs have orchestras, bands, jazz ensembles, choirs, and much more — so get out there and listen to their music.
Also, keep an eye out for community bands and orchestras; for example, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside has both a Community Band and a Community Orchestra. Good music is being made by these groups, and going out to listen to them is often less expensive than seeing a first-run movie.
And, of course, my own Racine Concert Band is in its 89th consecutive season. Winner of the Sudler Silver Scroll for excellence in musicianship and in elevating the cultural and musical environment of Racine back in 1995, the RCB continues to make good music and help get the word out that Racine has more live music than the music being made by the Racine Symphony Orchestra, the Belle City Brass, the Racine Dairy Statesmen (for men only) and Opus 2000 (for women only).
Racine, you see, is blessed with many great musical groups, from choruses (the Dairy Statesmen, Opus 2000) to a brass band (Belle City Brass), to the RCB and the RSO.
But your area — whatever area you’re in — probably has a lot more going on, musically speaking, than seems to be the case. That’s why you should do whatever you can to support music in the schools and in the community — whether it’s rock, jazz, country, swing, symphonic music or anything in between, go out and support your local musicians.
And if you think supporting your local musicians at such a difficult economic time is a frivolous act, I have news . . . you’re helping keep various musicians, music teachers, and associated others employed. Which is a positive thing, possibly even a life-affirming thing — and should be commended.
So, once more — get out there and see a concert or two. And support your local musicians. (Please?)
Second Blog-i-versary . . . Some Quick Hits
Folks, my second “blog-i-versary” passed on July 10, 2012, without comment, mostly because the weather in Wisconsin has been extremely hot. While I’ve continued to blog here and there, certainly this hot and humid weather we’ve had — which has destroyed crops, damaged lives, and caused all sorts of financial problems, as our 2012 summer is being compared to other, difficult summers like the summer of 1988 and worse, the “Dust Bowl” summer of 1936 — has gotten in the way.
That said, I’m very pleased that my blog is still here, two years after I started it (two years and a week, to be precise). I hadn’t anticipated this, but I suppose this blog still being in existence shows a good side to the Law of Unintended Consequences after all.
Here’s a few quick hits as to what’s going on right now in Wisconsin, aside from our dreadful weather:
Last night, the Milwaukee Brewers dropped a heartbreaker, 3-2, to their arch-rivals the St. Louis Cardinals. Particularly troubling in this loss is the fact that the Brewers led, 2-0, in the top of the ninth; closer John Axford got the first two outs (though both were long fly balls caught close to the fence, meaning both hitters nearly hit the ball out of the park rather than made these long, loud outs), then loaded the bases. Eventually, three runs scored, and Axford was removed from the game; Kameron Loe got the last out.
So, what happened to the Brewers in the bottom of the ninth? The hitters put too much pressure on themselves, that’s what. Corey Hart, who’d hit his 17th HR of the year earlier in the game, went to a 3-2 count before striking out. The next hitter, Rickie Weeks, took a few pitches, but also ended up striking out. And Martin Maldonado — well, he didn’t do anything, either. So the Cardinals closer, Jason Motte, got the three outs he needed, while the Brewers closer, Axford, was wild in and out of the strike zone and didn’t pitch effectively. Now, it looks like Axford may have been removed from his job as Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) has 19 holds and 1 save, and has looked far better than “Ax,” and no one can blame Brewers manager Ron Roenicke for wishing to try someone else at this point.
Oh, yes — the guy who started the game, rookie pitcher Mike Fiers, pitched extremely well (again), but didn’t get the win due to Axford’s meltdown. (I like Axford a great deal, and believe part of his troubles with command of his fastball and breaking ball come down to the usual problems relief pitchers have from time to time. But I have to call ’em as I see ’em.)
Otherwise, I’m continuing to work on AN ELFY ABROAD, and have some reviews planned this week at Shiny Book Review for Stephanie Osborn’s third book in her “Displaced Detective” series, and for Rosemary Edghill’s VENGEANCE OF MASKS . . . I may even review another book on economics, to keep my hand in the game. So stay tuned.
Finally, I played a concert with the Racine Concert Band last Sunday; for the record, I played second alto saxophone, and didn’t have any solos, though I did have a few good parts. I was glad I was able to play the concert despite the heat and humidity; the crowd at the concert (which was free, as it always is) was a bit diminished, possibly due to the heat, but we still had a couple of hundred people there and that’s encouraging. This was my fourth service for the band this year; I have a few more planned later this month and into August, though I hope to be playing clarinet at that time (I say “hope” because originally I’d been scheduled to play my clarinet on the last concert).
But whether I’m playing in the group or not, if you live in Southeastern Wisconsin and love free, live music, you owe it to yourselves to get out to the Racine Zoo and take in the Racine Concert Band. Concerts are at 7:30 p.m. on Sundays in July, and are at 7:00 p.m. on Sundays in August through August 19. There’s a wide variety of music, including marches, show tunes, light operas/operettas, and more — and best of all, it’s free.
Now back to our regularly scheduled sweltering, already in progress.
Barb Caffrey's Blog 