71st Annual Thanksgiving Concert for Flint Citadel

The Flint Citadel Band, under the direction of Bandmaster Richard Holman, held its 71st annual Thanksgiving concert on November 29, 2003. The concert was held at the James H. Whiting Auditorium in downtown Flint, Michigan. The special guest for the evening was pianist William Way.

The evening began with the band's presentation of Celebrate! (Andrew Mackereth), an arrangement of Gary Oliver's contemporary Christian song "Celebrate Jesus". Following words of welcome and an invocation by Major Norman Marshall, commander of the Eastern Michigan Division, the band continued with the march Royal Banner (Ty Watson) and John Dokter's transcription of Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Op. 84.

Guest pianist William Way then contributed the first of his three "sets" during the concert. One set was solo piano, in a devotional mood. For the others, he was joined by Steven Himes (percussion) and Simon Morton (bass guitar) in a jazz trio setting. In addition to providing support for the guest artist, Simon also performed Kevin Norbury's solo Badinage on Eb tuba, in between the first and second guest appearances. The band then ended the first part of the program with Praising Heart (David Ayma).

The band brought the audience back into focus following the intermission with another work from the pen of Ty Watson, The Solid Rock, followed by euphonoum soloist Andrew Bell presenting Harbour Light (Norman Bearcroft). Guest artist William Way then performed his third and final set of the evening.

The concert concluded with two patriotic compositions by Stephen Bulla, who is the Staff Arranger for the United States Marine Band in Washington, DC. The march Patriotica is medley of many different American patriotic songs. This was followed by the Armed Forces Salute, a medley of songs associated with each branch of the US Armed Forces (Air Force, Coast Guard, Army, Navy, and Marines). Following closing words by Flint Citadel corps officer Major Ralph Bukiewicz, the band provided an instrumental benediction with William Gordon's arrangement of The Lord's Prayer. As a starter for the holiday season to follow, the band chose the march Christmas Joy (Erik Leidzén) as their encore.

Source:
Flint Citadel Band official site

Posted by Webmaster 07 January 2004 12:24:49