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Since 1959..................P.O. Box
302, Concord MA 01742............Published Semi-annually
Winter/Spring 1997 Newsletter
Major Steven Grimo (USAF) to Conduct The Concord Band
Winter Concert Saturday, March 8
McManus nominated for MENC Eastern Division President
Concord Band Finances: Sources and Uses of Funds
Toland's March
Linda Nigro to Sing
Young Artist Competition
New Work in Progress
In Memorium: Barbara Cataldo
Upcoming Events
Previous Issues of Notes:
Major Steven Grimo to Conduct The Concord Band
The Concord Band is honored that Major Steven Grimo, Commander of the Air
Education & Training Command (AETC) Band of the West will be the guest
conductor at the Band's Winter Concert on March 8,
1997.
Major Grimo entered the United States Air Force in January, 1986. Upon
completion of Officer Training School, he was assigned as Deputy Commander
and Assistant Conductor of the 539th Air Force Band of the West,
now the AETC Band of the West. His success in that assignment led to
selection as Executive Officer and Vice Commander of the United States Air
Force Band in Washington D.C. While in Washington, Major Grimo was Officer
in Charge of the USAF Ceremonial Brass and the Airmen of Note. In that
capacity, he regularly performed for the President, high ranking military
and civilian leaders, and for national and international media events.
Major Grimo is a native of Bristol, Rhode Island. He began a career in
music as a percussionist, attending the New England Conservatory of music,
where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and
Percussion Performance. Upon graduation, Major Grimo began his teaching
career as an elementary and junior high school band director for the Newton
public schools. He later became Director of Instrumental Music at Wachusett
Regional High School in Holden, where he received the National Band
Association's Citation of Excellence, and the Stanbury Award of the
American School Band Director's Association. In 1985, Major Grimo received
his Master of Music degree in Wind Ensemble Conducting from the New England
Conservatory, where he studied with Frank Battisti. He was awarded the
Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting from the Catholic University of
America in Washington, D.C. in 1992. Major Grimo has numerous published
works to his credit and is a nationally active guest conductor and
clinician.
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WINTER CONCERT Saturday, March 8
The Concord Band's 1997 Winter Concert will have a very different flavor as
the Band welcomes guest conductor Major Steve Grimo,
the Commander and Conductor of the United States Air Force AETC Band of the
West based at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. The Concert
will feature a number of compositions which reflect the music of the
Southwestern United States and Mexico.
Appropriately, the concert will open with a John Philip Sousa March, The
Daughters of Texas, which was commissioned by what is now known as the
Texas Women's University. Concord Band Music Director, Bill McManus, will be conducting Arthur
Frackenpohl's American Folk Song Suite, a delightful and charming
suite based upon four American folk songs: "He's Gone Away," "John Henry,"
"Go Away from My Window," and "Mama Don't Allow." This is light-hearted
music with jazz and American spiritual idioms. Concord Band Flutist Marianne Leonard will be featured in a
performance of Rhapsody for Flute, a new work for flute and band by
Steven Bulla.
Major Grimo will conclude the first half of the concert with one of his own
favorite marches, His Honor, by Herry Fillmore, and Carmen Dragon's
arrangement of the Mexican folk song, La Cucaracha, originally
arranged for orchestra and transcribed for band by Tim Rhea for the Texas
Tech University Symphonic Band for performance at the Texas Music
Educator's Association Annual Convention in 1990.
The second half of the concert will open with Bill McManus conducting
Sousa's great Invincible Eagle March. This is one of Sousa's most
impressive marches as well as one of Sousa's favorites. In keeping with the
Southwestern theme of the concert, the band will perform Lone Star
Celebration, a new work by James Curnow
written for the state of Texas. Jim Curnow has written several commissioned
works for the Concord Band including Five Concord Diversions and
Overture to a Winter Festival, which is dedicated to William Toland, former Music Director and now
Music Director Emeritus of the Concord Band.
Major Steven Grimo will take the podium to conduct
Clifton Williams' Symphonic Dance #3, Fiesta. This work was
commissioned by the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra and premiered by the
orchestra in 1964. The composer then scored the work for band in 1967. The
annual Fiesta celebration is an important part of San Antonio's cultural
life. The Air Force Band of the West performs every year at this festival.
The concert will close with a performance of Alfred Reed's exciting
composition El Camino Real, which was commissioned by, and dedicated
to, the 581st Air Force Band and its Commander, Lt. Col. Ray
E. Toler. The music is based on a series of chord progressions common to
countless generations of Spanish flamenco guitarists, whose fiery style and
brilliant playing have captivated countless music lovers through out the
world.
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 McManus nominated for MENC Eastern Division President
Concord Band Music Director, Dr. William McManus, has been nominated for
President of the Eastern Division of the Music Educators National
Conference by the Executive Board Of the Eastern Division of the MENC. The
Eastern Division of the MENC is composed of the six New England states, New
York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the District of
Columbia. Bill served as President of the Massachusetts Music Educators
Association from 1991-93 and is currently chairperson of the Massachusetts
Coalition for Music Education. He has been active at the district, state
and division levels of the MENC for over twenty-five years. Bill's
nomination was announced at the MENC National Convention which was recently
held in Kansas City. Results of the election will be announced in March.
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Upcoming Events
- WINTER CONCERT
- Saturday, March 8, 8:15 PM. 51 Walden, Concord. For tickets call
(508) 897-9969
- SPRING POPS
- Friday and Saturday April 4 and 5. For tickets call:
- Friday: (508) 369-6815
- Saturday: (508) 263-7924
- BOSTON BAND FESTIVAL
- Saturday, June 7. Faneuil Hall, Boston
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Concord Band Finances: Sources and Uses of Funds
From time to time we use this space to help those who support the Concord
Band understand the financial side of our operation where our money
comes from and how we use it.
The Band's budget this season ('96-'97) is approximately $34,000. The
sources and uses of this sum are probably best shown in the form of a
table. For both income and expenses, the largest item is presented first,
with remaining items shown in decreasing order.
INCOME
Tickets & Parking Fees 37%
Donations & Pops Raffle 34%
Sponsored Concerts 14%
Grants 15%
EXPENSES
Music Director 36%
Music Purchases & Commisions 16%
Administrative Expense 12%
Concert Expense 11%
Rent 11%
Guest Artists 6%
Publicity 4%
Instruments/Equipment 3%
Scholarships 1%
If you would like to help support the Concord Band financially so that we
might continue to provide the community with the best in concert band
music, please send your contribution to the masthead address.
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Toland's March
Toland's March, composed by Peter Hazzard and commissioned by the Concord
Band in celebration of the Band's 25th anniversary in 1984, was performed
by the Massachusetts Northeast District Band at the 1997 Northeast Senior
District Festival at Gordon College on January 11, 1997, with the composer
conducting. The march was written in honor of former Concord Band Music
Director, William Toland.
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Vocalist Linda Nigro will be singing with the Concord Band at the 1997
Spring POPS Concerts on April 4 and 5. Linda was a big hit with the crowd
at Fruitlands last summer as well as at the Payson Park Concert in Belmont
where she delighted audiences with a medley of Gershwin tunes.
Linda, a resident of Hudson, sang for many years with bands throughout
central Massachusetts. Although she retired from professional singing a
number of years ago to pursue a career as a science teacher and mother, she
came out of retirement to sing with the Concord Band last year, much to the
delight of the members of the Band and our audiences.
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Barbara Cataldo
The Concord Band lost an enthusiastic, dedicated member on December 8,
1996, when Barbara Cataldo died in an automobile accident. Barbara was a
flutist in the Band for more than 32 years, thoroughly enjoying the musical
experience and lasting friendships. Barbara's husband, Ralph, was also in
the Band during its early years, playing several woodwind instruments.
In a note to retiring Music Director William Toland in 1994, Barbara
described her years with the Band as a "long, happy, fantastic, musical
trip." With her characteristic sense of humor, she wrote, "Although the
music of 1994 is more challenging than the scores from the Band's early
days, nothing more rewarding comes to mind than those beginning
concerts...from the Concord Library to Buttrick Mansion, we all have shared
sun, rain, cold, crowds, and faulty fingers."
With a BA in music from Boston University, Barbara was a music teacher in
the K-8 School at Hansom Air Force Base for 30 years. Barbara is survived
by her husband and three children. The Concord Band is receiving gifts in
Barbara's memory, and plans to dedicate its first CD, to be released later
this year, in her honor.
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New Work in Progress
The Concord Band will soon be adding another composition to the long list
of works the Band has commissioned over the years. The Lowell Arts Lottery
Council has awarded the Band a grant to support a new work being composed
by Daniel P. Lutz to recognize the 50th anniversary of the publication of
On The Road by Lowell author Jack Kerouac. Mr. Lutz is on the music
faculty at the University of Massachusetts–Lowell, where he conducts the
Marching Band and teaches numerous music courses. His commissions have
included band and orchestral works, pieces for jazz ensemble, theater,
corporate video, and commercial television and radio.
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Young Artist Competition
The Concord Band will be sponsoring its second Young Artist Competition
this spring. The winner of this year's competition will appear as a guest
soloist with the Concord Band at the Band's annual Spring Pops Concert
which will be held at 51 Walden in Concord on April 4 and 5. Last year's
young artists, Denise Gaz and Timothy Moore were big hits at the 1996
Spring POPS Concerts as well as at Fruitlands Museums, last summer.
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