Guest Conductor Dixie Detgen and vocal duo ‘Star & Charlie’ featured with Municipal Band Concerts

Director of the St. Joseph Municipal Band, Dr. Donald Moely, indicated the band concerts scheduled for Sunday, July 21 will feature Dixie Detgen, conducting two numbers with the band and the vocal duo "Star and Charlie."

The Venetian Festival week concerts begin with an active fanfare entitled "Gavorkna Fanfare," by Jack Stamp. The work is unique in that more commonly, a fanfare is written only for the brass instruments but this one is written for the full band instrumentation. Continuing the Venetian Festival week end fare will be John Philip Sousa’s "The Glory of the Yankee Navy" march. This represents the only march Sousa wrote in 1909 and is one of six of his marches that laud the U. S. Navy.

The next two numbers will be conducted by featured guest conductor for these concerts, DIXIE DETGEN, who is playing her 46th year as oboist of the Municipal Band Mrs. Detgen retired after teaching band for 29 years in the Buchanan Community Schools. She currently teaches instrumental music in a private school, lessons and sectionals at Lakeshore Middle School, is the oboe instructor in the Salvation Army Arts and Education Program, plays organ and directs the choir at her church, plays oboe with the Southhold Wind Ensemble (South Bend, IN) and the St. Joseph Municipal Band (completing her 44th year) and owns her own business called Detgen Seminars and Clinics, working with bands and directors throughout the state. She holds memberships in MENC, where she is a nationally registered teacher, ASBDA, serving on the Foundation Board, NBA, IDRS, MSBOA, AF of M, S.A.I. and was nominated to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in 1992. She was also the MSBOA Band Teacher of the Year in 1996. Dixie Detgen will conduct "An Australian Rhapsody," by Ralph Hultgren. The award winning Australian composer’s composition is a symphonic work constructed from melodic fragments based on the two folk songs presented in the piece. This will be followed by "Noble Men," a march by Henry Fillmore.

The entertainment feature at the middle of this concert will be the singing due "Star & Charlie." STAR & CHARLIE have performed together during the past six years, as musicians all along the Southwest coast of Michigan, Nebraska and Florida. Charlie plays the Classical Guitar & Electric Guitar and back up vocals, while Star sings, plays recorder, and keyboard. They also are known for writing, composing, producing and directing their own material. They were married in June of 1999. Charlie has been playing the guitar professionally over 36 years and has also been teaching guitar for the past 16 years when he’s not on the road. His styles include Rock, Country, Jazz, Blues and Originals. His love for the Classical, however, is seen clearly. His own interpretations also move in the classical pieces he plays so well. Charlie has a Degree in Audio Engineering. He has opened for bands in California such as Huey Lewis and the News, Gatemouth Brown, Bonnie Brammlit and Oingo Boingo, & Lorrie Morgan to name a few. Star credits her love for singing, since she was eight years old, to Karen Carpenter. In her life time of performances, Star has become experienced with vocal lessons and years of performances in Florida.. She has been performing in the Southwestern Michigan area for the past 7 years. Currently, Star & Charlie are working on a new project with Classical music composed by Agustin Barrios which will be featured in their performance today.

"Big Bands in Concert," arranged by Bob Lowden follows by sharing some of the sounds made famous in the ‘Big Band,’ including "A String of Pearls," "Satin Doll," Intermission Riff," "Sophisticated Lady," and "Opus one." The concert then concludes with perhaps F. W. Meacham’s most popular march "American Patrol."

The concerts will be at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m., at the John E. N. Howard Band Shell across from the Whitcomb in downtown St. Joseph, and continue each Sunday through Labor Day.