A Musical Trip Around the World
This concert is free & no ticket is required.
Even though Mother Nature has given us winter weather again, spring will surely pop out for the Hartford City Band spring concert. The band will perform this concert on Sunday, April 21st, at 2:30 p.m. in the Schauer Arts Center, 147 N. Rural St. in Hartford. This concert is free & no ticket is required. The band has two co-conductors, each directing the band with various musical selections. Starting the concert under the direction of Terri Kolinski, the band will open the concert with “Around the World” by Victor Young. This selection sets the concert's theme, which is the theme tune from the 1956 movie Around the World in 80 Days. Other selections include “An Irish Rhapsody,” a medley of 6 songs from Ireland (The Moreen, I Know Where I’m Going, Shepherd’s Lamb Reel, Cockles and Mussels, Rakes of Mallow and Kathleen). “Malaguena” this song was originally the sixth movement of Lecuona’s Suite Andalucia, to which lyrics in Spanish were added. “Canadian Capers” was originally written in 1915, and updated lyrics were written in 1949 for the Doris Day romantic comedy My Dream Is Yours. “Italian Holiday” is a medley of some of the most well-known and beloved songs and arias from Italy’s folk and operatic traditions, and “Danse Bacchanale,” an exciting instrumental ballet sequence from the third act of the opera Samson and Delilah. We took quite a tour around the world in the first half of the concert but as the old saying states: “There’s no place like home!” In the second half of the concert, the band will perform under the direction of Isaac Dae Young. The first selection is “National Emblem March,” and what better way to celebrate a homecoming than with a good old-fashioned American march. Other selections include “Armed Forces Salute,” to honor the men and women who sacrificed so much to this great nation, and “A Bernstein Tribute,” which includes popular tunes from several of his most beloved shows, including West Side Story, On the Town, and Candide. Continuing with our homecoming, the band will perform “An American Fanfare,” which was composed by Rick Kirby, a long-time high school band educator from Wisconsin, “Choral and Shaker Dance,” composed by John Zdechlik who was a Minnesota-based American composer and ending the concert with one of the most beloved American hymns of all time, the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The band will present two scholarships during this concert. One is the Joyce & Fred Aliota Scholarship, which the band started in 1981 in honor of Fred Aliota, who was the band director for twenty-five years. This scholarship is presented to a student pursuing a music career. There have been over thirty-four recipients of this scholarship; two scholarships were awarded in some years. The other scholarship is to dedicate two longtime members, Doug & Margaret Smith scholarship. This scholarship is a continuing education scholarship. The applicant can pursue a degree in any major. Each scholarship recipient will receive $2,000. The Hartford City Band has existed for 144 years, and tradition has played an integral part of the band. We have members from Hartford & the surrounding area. There are no dues or tryouts. Some members have played in the band for over forty years. Come and spend an afternoon enjoying the music, and it’s free! The Hartford City Band is always looking for new members. For more information, please visit our website: www.hartfordcityband.org.
The band will perform concerts in the park this summer, each week from mid-June through mid-August, in the shelter in Woodlawn Park in Hartford. The free concerts start at 8:00 p.m. and generally last around one hour.