SUNDAY, JULY 18 CONCERTS @ 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.

The St. Joseph Municipal Band continues the 2004 summer season with its normal set of double concerts on Sunday, July 18 at the regular 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. times. The weekly summer concerts are held at the John E. N. Howard Band Shell in downtown St. Joseph overlooked Lake Michigan. The July 18 concerts, the 4th of 12 double concerts scheduled for the season, are performed during the week end of the Venetian Festival and will feature Michelle Bythrow as the guest vocalist, from Utah, Phil Barham, as alto saxophone soloist, of Tennessee, a trumpet duet and intermission guests will be the Lake Effect Jazz Band.

Also included in each week of the 2004 Concert series will be an update of the donations for the half million dollar John E.N. Howard Band Shell Renovation project announced for this summer, with the reading of names of this week’s donations.

Director Dr. Donald Moely, announced the concert begins with "Salvation Army March" by John Philip Sousa, which resulted from a request for Sousa to write a march for a 1930 New York conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Salvation Army . This is followed by a concerto for two piccolo trumpets by Vivaldi, performed by William Camp, of Chicago and Jay Crouch of Niles. The band then performs Military Escort, actually composed by Henry Fillmore, but published under the name of Harold Bennett. The band next introduces it’s alto saxophone soloist, Phil Barham, of Tennessee.

PHIL BARHAM , a native of Dowagiac, was dubbed by a London critic after his debut there, "An American master saxophonist..." He received his Bachelor of Music degree in woodwinds from University of North Texas , and his Master of Music Degree in wind instruments/saxophone from the University of Michigan. He was a former saxophone instructor at California State University, Northridge and is presently an Assistant Professor of Saxophone at Tennessee Tech University. As a world touring saxophone artist, he has performed in the Purcell Room, in London as well as in Oslo, at University of Aula, and in Geneva, Switzerland. Audiences and critics agree with the opinion already offered by the New York Times published after his debut at Carnegie Recital Hall, which said that Phil's playing represents "..the ability to swing at a dancing rhythm or to blister through a swift rippling melody.." Most recently Phil has performed solos with the Holland, MI Symphony Orchestra, The Bryan Symphony at Tennessee Tech, and the South Bend Symphony Orchestra.. This summer he had the honor of teaching saxophone for the Southeast Chamber Music Institute in Tennessee. He was also named to Who’s Who of American Teachers this past school year. is in constant demand as a clinician and performer, Mr. Barham appears regularly with the Southwest Michigan Symphony, the South Bend Symphony and the Kalamazoo Symphony. Mr. Barham will perform three movements of the music of Rudy Wiedoeft, an 1920's famous saxophone virtuoso, who more than any other single instrumentalist, helped popularize the saxophone in the early twentieth century. Wiedoeft also left behind a legacy of compositions for the saxophone that remains an integral part of its literature.

The intermission feature of the concert will be the sounds of the big band of "Lake Effect" which will perform some of the favorites of the big band era. They will also feature the guest vocalist, Michelle Bythrow, performing "The Nearness of You."

Michelle Bythrow will then also be featured singing with the Municipal Band in Streisand’s "Evergreen" and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from the movie "The Lion King."

 

MICHELLE BYTHROW was born and raised in Michiana, went on to study music at Indiana University, then toured with music missions across the U.S., into Canada, and finally to Greenland. She was married to Brian Bythrow in 1991 and moved to California where she began professional singing via the Sacramento Opera Company. Michelle sang in professional musical theater in Colorado and also began working in television commercials, film, print work, and studio back-up vocals. Today, she resides, with her husband and three children (Christy Rose, Cody, and Cora), in Park City, UT. Michelle started a jazz duo called "Sage" and performs for private parties and in local restaurants. She leads music at her church and writes original music for children and worship songs for church.

The concert concludes with the 1904 march "On Jersey Shore" composed by Arthur Pryor, the famous trombone soloist for many years with the Sousa band.

The hour long Municipal Band concerts at the John E. N. Howard band shell are held each Sunday at 3:30 & 7:30 p.m. and continue through Sunday, September 5 and conclude with the final set of concerts Monday, September 6, Labor Day.