UPDATE, Nov. 11, 2017 / During the annual Veterans Day tribute at Veterans Park, the Naperville Municipal Band kept the large crowd warm in the bitter cold with its upbeat marches and medleys. Under the leadership of Conductor and Music Director Ron Keller, the all-American theme songs honored the men and women of the five armed service branches: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Stay tuned Nov.12 for the annual Fall Concert!
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Original Post, Nov. 7, 2017 / The Naperville Municipal Band will perform its annual Fall Concert, a tribute to Veterans and America’s patriotic music, beginning at 3PM Sun., Nov. 12, at the Wentz Concert Hall.
Noting that rehearsals for the first indoor concert of the season have been underway, Conductor and Musical Director Ron Keller expressed enthusiasm about “The NC-4 March,” one of the marches that will be performed during the concert to honor members of the armed services.
“The NC-4 March” was inspired by the U.S. Navy’s first transatlantic flight in 1919, an expedition that began on May 8 in New York State and took 19 days with stops along the way before landing in Lisbon, Portugal. The flight was accomplished by Navy Lt. Commander Albert Cushing Reed and his men of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard.
“It’s a great rousing March, written to commemorate the first transatlantic airplane flight,” said Keller.
Ann Lord will take the stage as narrator, providing enlightening commentary and rich history to accompany every selection of marches and other songs on the program.
Dr. Harry Hindson, a former member of the U.S. Navy Band in Washington D.C., will perform “A Gershwin Fantasy,” a saxophone solo.
Other songs will include “Concord,” “Songs from the Great War,” “Flight!,” “Inchon,” selections from “South Pacific,” “Bullets & Bayonets March (Sousa),” “Those in Peril On the Sea (Navy Hymn),” “A Salute the Armed Forces,” and “Stars & Stripes Forever.”
Keller went on to add that a guest speaker from Naperville Responds for Veterans has been invited to address the audience with brief remarks about the services the nonprofit group provides for Veterans.
Naperville Municipal Band concerts are free of charge, supported, in part, by the SECA Fund.
Wentz Concert Hall, North Central College’s 617-seat state-of-the-art venue in the Performing Arts Center, located at 171 E Chicago Avenue, is just steps from downtown Naperville.
Think dinner after the show.
RELATED POST / Photo gallery of the 2017 Fall Concert
