Illinois Brass Band season begins Sunday in Palatine

The Illinois Brass Band will open its 2014-15 season 7 p.m. Sunday, October 19, with "An Evening With Sousa" at Cutting Hall, 150 E. Wood St., Palatine.

Tickets are $12, $6 for children and students 18 and under.

The band present pieces played on U.S. and world tours by the John Philip Sousa Band. A patriotic singalong will round out the evening's program.

Peter Griffin, chairman of the Music Department of Elmhurst College, will be the guest conductor. He is a past director of the brass band at the University of Illinois and director of the Marching Illini.

Mark Ponzo, professor of trumpet at Northern Illinois University, will perform the Herbert L. Clarke classic cornet solo "From the Shores of the Mighty Pacific" and soloist Amy Keipert will perform "O Mio Babbino Caro" from Gianni Schicchi and lead the singalong. Joe Beribak will perform George Hamilton Green's virtuosic xylophone solo "The Whistler."

The band, in its 23rd year, is a not-for-profit organization supported in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.