Wheaton Municipal Band to perform patriotic concert

The Wheaton Municipal Band, under the direction of Bruce Moss, will get a jump on the Independence Day holiday with a concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 30, at the Memorial Park Band Shell, 208 W. Union Ave.

The Dixie Cups, a Dixieland band, will open the evening at 6 p.m. Garth Anderson, Steve Klaus, Daryl Beese, Robert Lustrea, Kurt Bonamer, Bill Morris, Gail Sonkin and Andrew Packer, all members of the Wheaton Municipal Band, come together to play in The Dixie Cups.

When the full municipal band takes the stage, the program will include a work by Ryan Nowlin, one of the band's favorite composers. He has been the assistant director First Lieutenant to "The President's Own" United States Marine Band since 2010.

Before that, Nowlin studied at Bowling Green University in Ohio under Moss. The band will perform Nowlin's stirring "Let Freedom Ring."

Music for the evening also includes all-time favorites, "Americans We," "America the Beautiful" and Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever."

The concert includes the band's rendition of "The 1812 Overture" by Tchaikovsky.

Also featured on the program are two long-standing performers, Carolyn Lloyd and James Garcia, playing "Andante and Rondo," a flute duet by Albert Franz Doppler. Garcia, the band's principal clarinetist, switches to flute for the solo.

"I thought there would be a little bit of novelty having the band's principal clarinetist perform with the ensemble on flute," Garcia said. "Last year I had the opportunity to buy a high-end handmade flute, and enjoy any chance I get to play it."

The concert is free. For details, visit www.wheatonmunicipalband.org.