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)
For the third year in a row, we BEGIN our season with the annual Teddy Bear's Picnic concert. While the band concert will begin at the usual 7:30 P.M., Grade A+ will have many activities in the area of the band shell beginning earlier in the afternoon. Grade A+ is an organization which fights drug abuse, and we encourage you to support their very worthwhile efforts.
Our conductor for this concert will be Derrick Murphy, who also conducted the band at Monday's Memorial Day service. Derrick is band director at Burlington Community High School, and regularly plays trumpet in our band and many other groups, including the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra, Southeast Iowa Band, and Southeast Iowa Brass Quintet.
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.
Derrick has chosen a program sure to appeal to children, their parents, and the rest of the audience. There will be two overtures, Peter Pan Overture arranged by Robert Powers, including You Can Fly! You Can Fly!, The Second Star to the Right, and We're Following the Leader; and Hansel and Gretel Overture by Engelbert Humperdinck, arranged by Frank Erickson, including A Little Man, Children's Prayer, and Little Dance. Three of the pieces are associated with hit Disney movies: Highlights from Beauty and the Beast music by Alan Menken, arranged by John Moss, with Prologue, Belle, Gaston, Be Our Guest, Beauty and the Beast, and Transformation; The Lion King Soundtrack Highlights arranged by Calvin Custer, featuring This Land, Circle of Life, To Die For, Be Prepared, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Hakuna Matata, and I Just Can't Wait To Be King; and The Hunchback of Notre Dame Soundtrack Highlights music again by Alan Menken, and arranged by Calvin Custer, including The Bells of Notre Dame, Out There, Topsy Turvy, God Help the Outcasts, and Hellfire. Rounding out the concert will be MacArthur Park by Jimmy Webb, arranged by Bill Holcombe, and a more "serious" concert band piece, Aventura by James Swearingen. As always with our Teddy Bear's Picnic concert, during The Teddy Bear's Picnic, by John W. Bratton, children of all ages will be invited to march with their teddy bears. The concert will conclude with our traditional closing march, The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa.
