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.
This year the 4th of July falls on a Sunday. Band members especially look forward to such years because they give us the opportunity to join with our audience in celebrating the Independence Day holiday with that most American of traditions - the concert in the park! Retired New London band director Ron Coberley will conduct this week. Ron plays the trumpet and, besides the Burlington Municipal Band, is a member of the Southeast Iowa Band.
Ron's other selections will include: Shenandoah arranged by Robert Sheldon; American Variations by Jerry H. Bilik, an interesting and exciting work in which the familiar Scottish folk tune Barbara Allen is woven into a series of stylistic settings representing the diverse cultural heritage of the American people; The Battle Cry of Freedom by George Frederick Root arranged by Jay Bocook; Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by Don Raye and Hughie Prince in an arrangement by Will Ford that features our trumpet section; America the Beautiful by Samuel Augustus Ward arranged by Carmen Dragon; The Battle Hymn of the Republic by William Steffe (words by Julia Ward Howe) in a setting by Peter J. Wilhousky arranged for band by James Neilson; The Spirit of '76, a medley of tunes from the time of the American Revolution including Washington's March at Trenton, Yankee Doodle, Norah, Dear Norah, Girls and Boys, and Chester; Capitol Hill March by Charles Carter; The Music Man by Meredith Willson arranged by Alfred Reed including The Wells Fargo Wagon, Till There Was You, and Seventy Six Trombones; and our traditional closing march, The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa.
In keeping with the occasion, Ron has chosen selections with a focus on America, both entertaining and patriotic. The concert will open with Ceremony of Allegiance by Don Gillis, narrated by Mark Hempen, announcer on radio station 101.7 "The Bull." Ceremony of Allegiance will be followed immediately by our National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner.