Wheaton Municipal Band spotlights clarinet section at July 30 concert
The clarinet section is the largest section in the Wheaton Municipal Band, boasting 18 members. The range of the clarinet is four octaves and clarinetists are known for their impressive technique.
For the eighth concert of the season, on Thursday, July 30, the band spotlights three different clarinetists. Abbey Atwater, Eric Mandat, and Jay Niepoetter.
Atwater, the band’s current Eb clarinetist, will perform the “Concert Fantasia from ‘Rigoletto’ by Luigi Bassi. This difficult technical work shows off the soloist’s skills, endurance, and breath control.
Mandat and Niepoetter team up to perform two works. Niepoetter studied with his teacher and mentor Mandat. Niepoetter was accepted into the clarinet section of “The President’s. Own” United States Marine Band in Washington, D.C. in 1988 at the age of 22.
Mandat sits on the leading edge of developments in multiphonic, microtonal, and timbral modulation possibilities for the clarinet. Normally the clarinet is a monophonic instrument, meaning it produces one note at a time. However, Mandat pushes the envelope with the clarinet sound and amazes audiences when he produces more than one note at a time. Teacher and student will be performing Mandat’s composition, “Parallel Histories: An Excursion.”
In addition, the Wheaton Municipal Band presents works performed at the American Bandmaster’s Association in March. The ABA recognizes outstanding achievement among concert band conductors and composers.
Band director Bruce Moss is a member of the ABA, and currently serves on its board of directors. Three hundred invited wind band. conductors and composers from the United States and Canada constitute the membership.
The Wheaton Municipal Band was honored with an invitation to perform at the 2026 conference held at the Harris Theater in Chicago. Normally, the band only has one rehearsal before a concert. For this performance, the band splurged and had four rehearsals, one of the pieces on that program was music “Rusland and Ludmilla” by Mikhail Glinka.
Based on a five-act opera, the music arranged for concert band, marks all the boxes for powerful opera repertoire. Sensitive pianissimo sections, bold powerful full band fortissimos and recognizable motifs.
The program also features some international sounds. “Un Cafecito” by Dennis Llinás, calls for six percussionists to cover all the Latin sounds from bongos to timbales for a total of 17 instruments.
“Treasure Island” by Hirotaka Izumi has its title written in Japanese. This fun exuberant work challenges the band in technique and flurry.
The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Memorial Park band shell, 225 Karlskoga Ave. in downtown Wheaton. The concert offers something for every taste. Bring a lawn chair and relax and enjoy this special concert. For more information, go to the band’s website at wheatonmunicipalband.org.