Burlington Iowa Municipal Band

The Burlington Municipal Band plays a one hour concert each week during the summer. Most of our concerts take place at the band shell in beautiful Crapo Park, overlooking the Mississippi River. While the band concerts begin at 7:30 PM, there is sometimes other entertainment preceding the concert, and families are encouraged to come early to enjoy the fine summer evening in the park.

Occasionally inclement weather forces the cancellation of our concerts. News of concert cancellations is broadcast on a number of local radio stations. Concert cancellations will also be posted here on this web site. Is the concert likely to be rained out? Check weather radar here.

Each year, the band has openings for a few musicians. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Burlington Municipal Band, contact Mark Eveleth by telephone at (319) 753-6900 or by e-mail at evelethm@mchsi.com.

The Burlington (Iowa) Municipal Band is a community concert band which has served and enriched the life of this city for seventy-five years. The band's first concert was presented in Crapo Park in May of 1927 after the citizens of Burlington had expressed the desire that such a band be formed. The band's roots extend back to the nineteenth century since it was formed through the combining of the existing Orchard City Band and the privately operated Fischer's Band under the leadership of J. Henri Fischer, a prominent musician of the era.

The band today enjoys a membership from a wide variety of backgrounds. The band contains homemakers, physicians, music teachers, business men and women, ministers, retired people, college students, and a few outstanding high school musicians. All share the common enjoyment of playing their instruments and providing the community with a wholesome family activity.

With continued support from the City of Burlington, the Municipal Band continues to perform free Sunday evening concerts in Crapo Park during the summer months. These concerts are presented from 7:30 until 8:30 P.M. at the Crapo Park Bandshell, located on Grandview Drive within the park. This site provides concert goers a magnificent view of the Mississippi River and the Illinois farmlands spread below, and a wide lawn where listeners can choose to sit on park benches provided near the bandshell, or bring their own lawn chairs or blankets, perhaps to sit near the illuminated Foehlinger Fountain. The concerts are well attended by people of all ages, and many visitors to Burlington make it a point to return each summer to hear at least one concert.

This website is now maintained by members of the Burlington Municipal Band.

We thank the staff at the Burlington Public Library for the original site design.

Questions and/or comments can be directed to -- webmaster@muniband.org

Jennifer will continue with: "The Kadiddlehopper March" by Red Skelton, arranged by Ron Roullier; "It's a Grand Night for Singing" by Richard Rodgers, arranged by William C. Schoenfeld; "Here's That Rainy Day" by Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen, arranged by Bob Lowden; "Guys and Dolls" (an overture to lead up to this fall's Players Workshop presentation) by Frank Loesser; and our traditional closing march, "The Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Philip Sousa.

We hope that you will take the opportunity to support live music provided by many musical organizations in the Burlington Area during the fall, winter and spring months. Members of the Municipal Band participate in or direct many of these groups, and we would love to see you. These groups include the school bands, orchestras and choirs in Burlington and surrounding communities as well as the Southeast Iowa Symphony, Southeast Iowa Band, Bel Canto Chorale, South Hill Brass, Southeast Iowa Brass Quintet, and the Southeast Iowa Woodwind Quintet. You may often find band members directing or participating in the pit bands of the Players Workshop and/or area school musical productions as well.

We wish to thank the Burlington Fine Arts League. Their generous support has allowed us to purchase a new microphone and stand, enhancing the sound quality for our audience. We also wish to thank Jean Burgus for her generous contribution to the band, made in memory of Harold Burgus. Her gift has been used to purchase new music.

Note from the webmaster: We update this web site at least once a week during our summer concert season. Since the program for each Sunday concert is finalized at our rehearsal on Monday evening, we generally post the week's update sometime on Tuesday. Unfortunately, if you are viewing this page on a Monday, what follows will undoubtedly be the information for YESTERDAY'S concert.

Our penultimate concert of the 2002 summer season features a double bill: Sue Kristensen and Jennifer Hexom will each conduct half the concert. Both Sue and Jennifer have been with our band for longer than you would guess from looking at them, and also perform with other groups at other community functions.

Plan to arrive early for the annual "pre-concert" by ClasSax, Burlington's premiere saxophone ensemble, beginning at 6:30 P.M. Members of the group include: Ted Francis, alto sax; Wendy Zick, alto sax; Mike Lachnitt, Tianna Streeter, and Adam Creager, tenor saxes; Darwin Lyons, baritone sax; Chris Crowner, keyboard; Ed Hart, guitar; Dean Lyons, bass; and David Scott, drums. Their performance will include Georgia On My Mind, Poor Butterfly, Theme from "Ice Castles", Night Train, Over the Rainbow, Besame Mucho, Alley Cat, Mambo No. 5, Little Boy Lost, and Alright, Okay, You Win. We're sure you will enjoy this fine program immediately preceding our regular 7:30 P.M. concert.

Sue Kristensen, who plays clarinet, is the longest reigning member of the band. She was the first female to be allowed to play in the band, eventually serving as assistant director under Maury Wright. Sue is a retired Burlington School music teacher and now teaches private music lessons, continuing to instruct some of our finest young musicians.

Jennifer Hexom is the longest reigning member of our trumpet section, and is currently band director in the Union School District in Biggsville, Illinois. Jennifer is also the musical director for the upcoming Player's Workshop production of Guys and Dolls.

Sue's portion of the program will include: "Burst of Flame" by Richard W. Bowles; "American Folk Rhapsody" by Clare Grundman, featuring the American folk songs "My Little Mohee" (probably better known to our audience as "On Top of Old Smokey"), "Shantyman's Life", "Sourwood Mountain", and "Sweet Betsy from Pike"; "Chit Chat," a polka by Johann Strauss, arranged by Norman Richardson; "The Last Time I Saw Paris" by Jerome Kern, arranged by John Warrington; "The Invincible Eagle" by John Philip Sousa, editted/arranged by Brion and Schissel; "Irish Tune from County Derry" by Percy Grainger, arranged by H.R. Kent; and "Pennywhistle Jig" by Henry Mancini (from the movie "The Molly Maguires"), arranged by John Moss. ("Pennywhistle Jig" is one of the pieces we have recently been able to purchase thanks to generous contributions from members of our audience.)