The Latest News from Your Minnesota State Band

November, 2011

Minnsota State Band To Peform Two Concerts This Fall

On November 16^th, 2011 the Band will perform our Fall Concert at the Minnesota Veterans Home in Minneapolis. The concert will honor our Veterans with lively patriotic music and marches. Particular emphasis will be on music from the American Civil War era in recognition of the 150^th anniversary of the War. Selections will include Clare Grundman’s The Blue and the Gray (a Civil War Suite), Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, narrated by special guest James Ahrens, John Williams’ Hymn to the Fallen, and always a crowd pleaser, Rossini’s William Tell Overture. The concert is free and open to the public and begins at 7 pm.

On December 14^th, 2011 the band will perform a Holiday Concert at the Lakeview Lutheran Church in Maplewood. We will be joined for this concert by Canon Brass, who performed with the band at Como Park in August. This concert is meant to thank two very special groups of patrons. First, we wish to thank all of the Associate Members of the Minnesota State Band who through their generous donations have helped to make this year’s fundraising one of our most successful. Second, we wish to thank the Members of the Lakeview Lutheran Church. During the State Government Shutdown in June, the State Band was prevented from rehearsing at our usual location, the State Transportation Building. When Lakeview Lutheran heard of our problem, the church graciously offered space for the band to store equipment and to rehearse for our summer season free of charge.

Our Holiday Concert starts at 7 pm, with a reception to follow. And if you didn’t have a chance this summer to get your own Minnesota State Band Teddy Bear, come to the concert. The soft and cuddly Teddy Bear is a special gift for a new or renewing associate membership of $20.00 and makes a lovely gift.

July, 2011

Breaking News!!! Now that State Shutdown is Over, Our Concert at History Center is Back On.

Seniors in Mind: American Muse, with the Minnesota State Band and Master of Ceremonies Stan Turner

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

On July 26, 2011 the band will perform two concerts at the Minnesota History Center. The concerts are entitled Seniors in Mind: American Muse, with the Minnesota State Band. The Band will perform a variety of music by American composers, including Aaron Copland, Charles Ives, Duke Ellington and Hoagy Carmichael as well as foot-tapping American march music with a salute to our armed forces. Both concerts are hosted by popular Twin Cities' television and radio personality Stan Turner. There will be two seatings for the program, at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

The concert itself is Free ($8 senior admission to museum galleries not included) but reservations are required by calling 651-259-3015 or registering online at www.minnesotahistorycenter.org. These same concerts sold out last year so please make your reservations early. If you can't make the History Center Concert, you can join us in Edina on Sunday July 31^st at 7:00 p.m. for a concert at Centennial Lakes Park. Or meet us at Como Park in St. Paul at 7 p.m. on August 3, 10 or 17^th. There are plenty of chances this summer to come and hear your Minnesota State Band in concert.

February, 2011

Minnesota State Band Spring Concert Set for March 16

Our first concert of the year is on March 16, 2011 at the Sullivan Anishinabe Academy in Minneapolis. The featured work will be The Lord of The Rings Symphony by Dutch composer Johan de Meij. This work, written between 1984 and 1987, is not the film score but a symphonic work inspired by the novels of J.R.R. Tolkien. There are five movements.

I. GANDALF (The Wizard) The first movement is a musical portrait of the wizard Gandalf, one of the principal characters of the trilogy. His wise and noble personality is expressed by a stately motif which is used in a different form in movements IV and V. The sudden opening of the Allegro vivace is indicative of the unpredictability of the grey wizard, followed by a wild ride on his beautiful horse Shadowfax.

II. LOTHLÓRIEN (The Elvenwood) The second movement is an impression of Lothlórien, the Elvenwood with its beautiful trees, plants, exotic birds, expressed through woodwind solos. The meeting of the Hobbit Frodo with the Lady Galadriel is embodied in a charming Allegretto; in the Mirror of Galadriel, a silver basin in the wood, Frodo glimpses three visions, the last of which, a large ominous Eye, greatly upsets him.

III. GOLLUM (Sméagol) The third movement describes the monstrous creature Gollum, a slimy, shy being represented by the soprano saxophone. It mumbles and talks to itself, hisses and lisps, whines and snickers, is alternately pitiful and malicious, is continually fleeing and looking for his cherished treasure, the Ring.

IV. JOURNEY IN THE DARK The fourth movement describes the laborious journey of the Fellowship of the Ring, headed by the wizard Gandalf, through the dark tunnels of the Mines of Moria. The slow walking cadenza and the fear are clearly audible in the monotonous rhythm of the low brass, piano and percussion. After a wild pursuit by hostile creatures, the Orcs, Gandalf is engaged in battle with a horrible monster, the Balrog, and crashes from the subterranean bridge of Khazad-Dûm in a fathomless abyss. To the melancholy tones of a Marcia funèbre, the bewildered Companions trudge on, looking for the only way out of the Mines, the East Gate of Moria.

V. HOBBITS The fifth movement expresses the carefree and optimistic character of the Hobbits in a happy folk dance; the hymn that follows emanates the determination and noblesse of the hobbit folk. The symphony does not end on an exuberant note, but is concluded peacefully and resigned, in keeping with the symbolic mood of the last chapter "The Grey Havens" in which Frodo and Gandalf sail away in a white ship and disappear slowly beyond the horizon.

Other works on the program include William Byrd Suite by Gordon Jacob and two works by Jacques Offenbach, the Ballet Parisien and Galop from Genevieve de Brabant. Come join us for a night of great classical music.

The Minnesota State Band Announces Two Concerts at the Minnesota History Center Auditorium on July 26^th

The Two concerts are entitled, Seniors in Mind: American Muse, with the Minnesota State Band. The Band will perform a variety of music by American composers, including Aaron Copland, Charles Ives, Duke Ellington and Hoagy Carmichael as well as foot-tapping American march music with a salute to our armed forces. Both concerts are hosted by popular Twin Cities television and radio personality Stan Turner. There will be two seatings for the program, at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

October, 2010

Minnesota State Band Fall Concert Set For November

The Minnesota State Band is pleased to announce a fall concert on Sunday, November 14, at 2:00 pm. at Grace Methodist Church in Burnsville. The concert is being sponsored by Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity. Founded in 1903, the mission of Sigma Alpha Iota and its members is to encourage, nurture and support the art of music. Sigma Alpha Iota is a leader in the pursuit of music creation, performance and scholarship and the Minnesota State Band is proud of the opportunity to collaborate with this internationally renowned organization.

This will be the first concert of the Minnesota State Band's "Great Transcriptions Series"; a year-long exploration by the band of great orchestral transcriptions for winds. The first half of the concert will feature Toccata by Gaspari Casado, O Magnum Mysterium by Martin Lauridsen, and Trauersinfonie, scored by Richard Wagner from music of Carl Maria von Weber. The second half of our concert will feature works by Minnesota composers including Libby Larsen and Carol Barnett, both Sigma Alpha Iota members. After the concert, there will be grand reception, hosted by our sponsors. Please join us for a memorable night of great classical music and fellowship.