CONCERT MUSIC FROM STAGE AND SCREEN

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By Jaime Mirman

April 19, 2016 (San Diego) -- The San Diego Concert Band presented an impressive  27th Annual Spring Celebration Concert, Music From Stage and Screen last April 5th at the Joan B. Kroc performing Arts Theatre.

The purely instrumental pieces were mostly an ambitious and showy display of cinematographic power that the Band delivered in all its glory, under the compelling magical baton of Roy Anthony, Jr.

The engaging guest vocalist was Barbara Allen, originally from the UK who has played the lead roles in productions such as “My Fair Lady,” “The Pirates of Penzance,” and “The Sound of Music.”

The program opened with An Epic Fanfare, a brief and rousing piece by Julie Ann Giroux, an American composer of orchestral, choral, chamber and numerous band works.

Thunder and Blazes, by the Czech composer Julius Fučik, dates from 1897. Written to be played at standard march tempo, it became a bombastic and fun “screamer march” for circuses, at a much faster tempo. The arrangement is by J.S Seredy.



Selections from “Chicago”
by John Kander, arranged by Ted Ricketts. We heard “All That Jazz,” “Cell Block Tango,” “Roxie,” and “We Both Reached for the Gun.”  The conductor recreated here the intense jazz and ragtime pieces bringing us back to the decade of the twenties. The Broadway revival holds the record as the longest-running American musical in Broadway history.


Out of Africa by John Barry, arranged by Johan de Meij. The conductor Roy Anthony Jr. dedicated this selection to his wife Cathi. He handled the luscious arrangement, with broad instrumentation to enfold a fragrant musical presentation

My Fair Medley is an adaptation, by band member Adam T. Pezdek, of “My Fair Lady,” the musical by Frederick Loewe and Alan J. Lerner. Solo vocalist Barbara Allen provided an artful interpretation of “Wouldn’t it be Lovely,” “Show Me,” and “I Could Have Danced all Night” by employing an assortment of colors in her voice, impeccable diction and effective use of vibrato. Mr. Pezdek’s imaginative use of the piccolo obbligato in the last piece became a welcome addition to the singer’s interpretation.

Symphonic Dances from “Fiddler on the Roof” by Jerry Bock, arranged by Ira Hearshen, included “Tradition,” “Wedding Dance,”  “Perchick and Hodel Dance,” “Chava Sequence,” “To Life,” and “Dance.”  The production won nine Tony Awards, and the Band transmitted irrepressible rhythmic vitality to the songs and dances of joy and despair, of celebration and pathos that Jerry Bock composed utilizing the Jewish modal scales.

Star Wars Medley by John Williams, arranged by James H. Burden. Roy Anthony Jr. and the San Diego Concert Band took us on a cosmic voyage, full of adventure in constellations of sound. Members of the 501st Legion made a daring appearance skillfully disguised as characters of the Star Wars movies. May the “Farce” keep on being with you!



Raiders March
by John Williams, arranged by Paul Lavender. From the classic 1981 movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark” we enjoyed being taken back 45 years. The canonic themes were brilliantly displayed by the trumpets and horns sections, followed by the clarinets and flutes.

Four Dances From “West Side Story” by Leonard Bernstein, arranged by Ian Polster, included “Scherzo,” “Mambo,” “Cha-cha,” and “Cool.”  The superb Bernstein music started with dissonant chords that became a whirlwind of violent and complex Latin rhythms. The instrumentation emphasized a changing palette, coupling contrasting colors like tuba with flutes and piccolo--altogether a brilliant tour de force for Mr. Anthony Jr. and the San Diego Concert Band.


Barbara Allen, the featured soloist offered her interpretation of Grizabella: The Glamour Cat by Andrew Lloyd Weber and T.S. Eliot, arranged by Adam T. Pezdek, followed by her showpiece performance, Poor Wandering One by Arthur S. Sullivan and W. S. Gilbert, also arranged by Adam T. Pezdek. From the comic opera “The Pirates of Penzance”, this virtuoso aria written in waltz tempo was the perfect vehicle for Mrs. Allen to display her talent, technique and musicianship as a lyric soprano. Her agility, projection and capacity to reach the highest notes of her register electrified the audience. Mr. Anthony provided her at all times with a closely watched accompaniment, with flexibility for the slightest adjustments of tempi with the Band.

Silverado by Bruce Broughton, arranged by Randol Bass generated a musical display of bravery.

The encore, My Favorite Things by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, was a delightful Barbara Allen rendition.

Jaime Mirman graduated as the first French Horn Master in Music from the National University of Mexico.  He has played in Mexico at the National Symphony Orchestra and the Symphonic Band of the Ministry of Public Education, as well as chamber music, teaching and arranging

 


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