Guests to lead Wheaton Municipal Band in 'Conductor's Night Out' June 24

On Thursday, June 24, the Wheaton Municipal Band kicks off an evening of pure music enjoyment with "Conductor's Night Out" at 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Park in downtown Wheaton.

Usually, Music Director Bruce Moss gives that downbeat, but this week spotlights a number of band directors plucked right out of the band.

The conductors include: Rich Paluch, a member of the percussion section, Annie Sun Chung, and Barb Saks, both members of the flute section, from the clarinet section, Melinda Coleman and Ken Goodman, and from the saxophone section, Vinnie Inendino. All of these musicians are or were music educators conducting middle school or high school bands.

These talented conductors carefully select the works they present. Melinda Coleman, a band director in Lubbock, Texas, spends time in her hometown of Palatine during the summer.

Coleman selected "White Rose," which is a lesser-known Sousa march. "It doesn't get played very often, but has a great clarinet feature in the trio," Coleman said. She also plans to conduct "Mambo" from "West Side Story." Coleman likes the audience participation in "Mambo."

Vinnie Inendino selected another Leonard Bernstein work, "Candide Suite." Inendino said, "The suite highlights some great music that came out of the musical."

Barb Saks chose two works to conduct. A Broadway enthusiast, Saks chose music from "Into the Woods." Saks taught at Park View School in Morton Grove for 32 years.

Ken Goodman conducts "Overture in B Flat" and "Eine Kleine Yiddishe Ragmusik," "because I believe that they are well-crafted pieces that will be enjoyable for both audience and band members alike."

Rich Paluch will conduct a Concert Band standard, "First Suite in E Flat for Military Band" by Gustav Holst and Annie Sun Chung conducts "Flashing Winds" and "Variations on an African Hymnsong."

Of course, a few marches will pepper the program.

The band only has 2½ hours to prepare and rehearse this challenging program. Each conductor is challenged with the task of running their pieces and fine-tuning them within a very limited amount of time. But, this is the Wheaton Municipal Band and they are up for the task.

The Wheaton Park District installed stadium seating at the front of the park, or bring your own chair to relax and enjoy the beautiful music. No tickets required. For more information, go to www.wheatonmunicipalband.org.