The Burlington Municipal Band "season" actually begins with the Memorial Day Service, last year once again held outside Memorial Auditorium. (see photo at right, with Mark Eveleth conducting the band)
The conductor for our July 4 concert will be Notre Dame Elementary School band director Jim Priebe. Jim has been a trombonist in the band for many years and also performs with the Southeast Iowa Symphony, the Southeast Iowa Brass Quintet, the Southeast Iowa Trombone Quintet, the South Hill Brass and area jazz ensembles. As is appropriate for an Independence Day concert, the focus will be on American patriotic themes.
A special feature of the concert will be a celebration of America with a "flag parade." We are hoping that "kids of all ages" will bring their flags and join in the parade led by the Boy Scout color guard around the grounds in front of the band shell as the band plays George M. Cohan's You're a Grand Old Flag.
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 summer Monday, what follows will undoubtedly be the information for YESTERDAY'S concert.
The concert will open with the presentation of the colors by a Burlington Boy Scout color guard and the Star Spangled Banner. Other selections will include: Americans We March by Henry Fillmore; A Fifties Time Capsule arranged by Paul Jennings, including High Hopes, Who Put the Bomp, Rock Around the Clock, Catch A Falling Star, Swingin' Shepherd Blues, Love and Marriage, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, Ta Ra Ra Boom Deray, Hooray For Captain Spalding, Beep Beep, The Yellow Rose of Texas, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, and Jailhouse Rock; Flourish for Wind Band by Ralph Vaughn Williams; Disney at the Movies arranged by John Higgins including Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, Never Smile at a Crocodile, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, The Bare Necessities, Under the Sea, Beauty and the Beast, Be Our Guest, Friend Like Me, A Whole New World, This Land, Circle of Life, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, and Colors of the Wind; Emblem of Freedom March by Karl King; La Bella Roma by John Cacavas; Irving Berlin: a Symphonic Portrait arranged by Hawley Ades including There's No Business Like Show Business, Say it With Music, Alexander's Ragtime Band, Easter Parade, White Christmas, and God Bless America; America The Beautiful arranged by Carmen Dragon; and our traditional closing march, The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa.
Veterans of our armed services and any military personnel on active duty will be recognized during a performance of Armed Forces Salute arranged by Bob Lowden. The arrangement includes the themes of each branch of the military including the Army's Caisson Song, the Coast Guard's Semper Paratus, The Marine's Hymn, The U.S. Air Force theme, and the Navy's Anchors Aweigh. We will ask the veterans and active duty personnel to stand as their branch's theme is played.
