SUNDAY, JULY 31, CONCERTS @ 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.

The St. Joseph Municipal Band continues the 2005 summer season with its normal set of double concerts on Sunday, July 31st , at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. The weekly summer concerts are held at the John E. N. Howard Band Shell in downtown St. Joseph overlooked Lake Michigan. The July 31st concerts, the 6th of 12 double concerts scheduled for the season, will feature Jonathan Korzun, trombonist in the band, guest conducting three numbers on the program. The Municipal Band Woodwind Quintet will also be featured performers.

Dr. Donald Moely, St. Joseph Municipal Band director, announced the concert begins with a major composition for band by Gustav Holst. Most band conductors and music researchers consider Holst’s works for wind band as the cornerstone of 20th -century band literature. The band will perform Holst’s "Second Suite in F" which includes four contrasting movements.

Next, Jonathan Korzun will guest conduct "March from ‘1941'" by John Williams; "Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral," by Wagner, and "Clowns," by Philip Parker.

DR. JONATHAN KORZUN is Director of Bands and Chairman of Fine and Performing Arts at Southwestern Michigan College in Dowagiac, Michigan.. He directs the Symphonic Band, Brass Band and Jazz Ensemble. An outgrowth of the S.M.C. Community Brass Band, Dr. Korzun founded and directs the Round Oak Cornet Band, a small brass band that performs nineteenth century American Brass band music on authentic mid nineteenth century instruments. Dr. Korzun received his B.A. in Music Education and M.A. in Music Theory/Composition from Rutgers University (New Jersey), and his Ed. D in Music Education from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is active as a trombone player, clinician and guest conductor.

The band next presents its Woodwind Quintet. THE MUNICIPAL BAND WOODWIND QUINTET is coordinated by Dixie Detgen, who retired after 29 years of teaching instrumental music in the Buchanan Community Schools. Dixie was selected as Band Director of the Year (1996) by the membership of MSBOA. Stacie Detgen is in her 18th year of teaching instrumental music education and her 13th year at Charlotte Middle School, and is completing her 26th year of membership with the St. Joseph Municipal Band. Dave Ratajik performs with vagarious wind ensembles and jazz groups, and enjoys playing in area churches. He was a St. Joseph Public Schools principal for 30 years, and now manages the Troops To Teachers Program for the States of Michigan and Indiana. Lisa Bubar is a graduate of Wheaton College, Wheaton, ILL, with a music education degree. She has taught general and vocal music in elementary and middle schools. She presently teaches private bassoon lessons and assists with the band programs at Lakeshore Schools. Charlotte Burch has been a member of the St. Joe Municipal Band for eleven years. She is a native of central Ohio and attended Ohio State University. Charlotte currently resides in Bridgman and plays flute and piccolo in various ensembles and is a member of South Shore Concert Band. The woodwind quintet will perform: "Entry of the Gladiators," "Serenade," and "The Classical Rag"

Next the band performs "The American Red Cross March" written by Louis Panella during World War I, a time when Americans were deeply grateful for the humanitarian work performed by the Red Cross.

The band next performs a collection of songs entitled "Michel Legrand" in concert, which includes his notable song "The Windmills of your Mind," from the 1968 movie "The Thomas Crown Affair," and "What are you Doing the Rest of Your Life." Legrand has composed over 200 film and television scores, several musicals, and made well over a hundred albums and has won three Oscars and five Grammy awards.

The concert concludes with John Philip Sousa’s "The Pathfinder of Panama" march, which was one of twelve marches Sousa composed for various expositions or fairs. "The Pathfinder of Panama" was dedicated to the Panama Canal and the Panama-Pacific Exposition, held in San Francisco in 1915, during which Sousa’s band played a nine week engagement. The Panama Canal was the pathfinder of Sousa’s title; it shortened the ocean voyage between San Francisco and New York by 8,000 miles.

The hour long Municipal Band concerts at the newly renovated John E. N. Howard band shell are held each Sunday at 3:30 & 7:30 p.m. and continue through Sunday, September 4 and conclude with the final set of concerts Monday, September 5, Labor Day.

Last updated on 06/28/2007