Mt. Prospect Community Band Presents: “March Madness”
On Sunday, March 18, 2018, the Mt. Prospect Community Band will present a concert entitled "March Madness". Typically, "March Madness" refers to basketball tournaments held every year in March. However, the band is frequently asked to play more march music. So that request is fulfilled because the band will feature great marches from around the world at their formal concert starting at 3:30 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, 605 W. Golf Road in Mt Prospect.
Although most people think of John Philip Sousa when march music is mentioned, there are many other great march composers. For example, the Radetzky March by Johann Strauss is probably the best-known Viennese march played each year on New Year's Eve by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The Entry March of the Boyars by Johan Halvorsen, a Norwegian composer, invokes the grand entrance of the aristocrats into Budapest. The Crown Imperial Coronation March by William Walton has been used for the coronation ceremonies of English monarchs as well as for royal weddings. Of course, the Colonel Bogey march by Kenneth Alford is a widely recognized tune perhaps most famous for its use in the movie, "The Bridge on the River Kwai". All these great selections can be heard at the March Madness concert.
Sousa will get his due recognition with his El Capitan march, as well as a performance of his lesser known El Capitan waltzes. Other marches to be featured are Valdres by Johannes Hanssen, the Footlifter by Henry Fillmore and the Knightsbridge by Eric Coates.
The program also includes a movement from a Mozart bassoon concerto to be played on soprano saxophone by long-time principal saxophonist, Jim Johnson. Jim is a life-long Mt. Prospect resident and attended Prospect High School and Northern Illinois University. A professional musician, Jim became very involved with Elvis Presley tribute shows early in his career and continues to tour with an Elvis band, The Famous Ambassadors. He has toured extensively in the US, Canada, Europe, South America and Australia. In 2013, Jim played piano for Elvis Week on The Late Show with David Letterman. Closer to home, Jim is the lead alto sax and clarinet player for the Alan Gresik Swing Shift Orchestra at Chicago's famous Green Mill jazz club.
The Mt. Prospect Community Band is a program of the Mt. Prospect Park District. Tickets for the concert are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Tickets are available at the Mt Prospect RecPlex and Central Community Center as well as from any band member. For more information about the band go to www.mppd.org or call (847) 640-1000.