Published: August 07, 2008 11:36 pm            

Banks of the Wabash Chorus, Terre Haute Community Band team up

TERRE HAUTE — The Banks of the Wabash Chorus will perform in a Grand Finale to close out the Terre Haute Community Band’s summer concert season Aug. 16 in Fairbanks Park.

The chorus begins at 7:15 p.m., providing the perfect entre act to the band’s “Salute to Music Teachers” concert at 8. Band directors from area schools have been invited to take the podium as guest conductors for some traditional concert band selections.

Terry Wence, director of the Banks of the Wabash Chorus, promises some standard chorus songs such as “Blue Skies” “Danny Boy” and a bluegrass/gospel medley.

The audience can also look forward to some patriotic numbers and possibly some doo-wop from the Chorus’ repertoire.

The band will play “Washington Post,” one of John Philip Sousa’s most famous marches. “Washington Post” was a famous name before the political events of the early 1970s brought it sensational acclaim and Sousa’s march bearing its masthead was probably what first made the paper known around the world.

“To Look Sharp,” the famous Gillette Razor commercial jingle, will share the playlist with “New World Variations,” a symphonic excerpt based on Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9. “The Student’s March Song” is from the operetta “The Student Prince” by Sigmond Romberg. Leonard Bernstein again will be featured with “Wrong Note Rag,” a fun number from his Broadway show “Wonderful Town.”

Several numbers, “Westchester Overture,” “Equinox,” “Brighton Beach” and “Toccata for Band” were composed specifically for bands and are considered traditional band literature. In contrast, a theme from Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony” obviously is not band literature but was arranged by Jerry Nowak for bands to perform.

The Terre Haute Community Band gratefully acknowledges grants from the Wabash Valley Community Foundation and Arts Illiana in presenting its concert schedule. All concerts are sponsored by the Terre Haute Parks and Recreation Department. For more information, call Betty Martin at (812) 535-6440 or (812) 466-2755.

        

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