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(Mostly) Fictional Characters

February 18, 2010

             From a pre-concert clinic (with pizza afterwards for the participants) to a post-concert reception for the Band, audience, and guest artists to greet each other, with lots of exciting musical events in between, the Ypsilanti Community Band's February 18 concert will provide enormous fun for the entire family!

             The Band will perform its free concert at 7:30 p.m. in Towsley Auditorium of the Morris Lawrence Building at Washtenaw Community College.  (WCC is located at 4800 E. Huron River Drive, Ann Arbor and the Morris Lawrence Building is the east-most building on campus.  There is plenty of free parking in the vicinity of the Morris Lawrence Building and the main entrance is on the east side.)

             The program is built around the theme of "(Mostly) Fictional Characters."  Dr. Jerry Robbins, who is in his 12th season on the podium, will conduct most of the numbers.  The concert is generously sponsored by Don and Barbara Chaffin and Metzger's Restaurant.  In addition, the Band expresses special appreciation to Domino's Pizza and to members of the EMU chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma for assistance throughout the evening.

             Youngsters of all ages will enjoy the Band's presentation of "The Muppet Show Theme" (arranged by Lake Orion resident George Sinnott) and "What's Up at the Symphony?"  The latter is subtitled "Bugs Bunny's Greatest Hits" and contains music from Saturday morning cartoons. 

             The witches from the "Wizard of Oz" story, as retold in the musical "Wicked," will be represented by musical highlights from "Wicked," conducted by assistant conductor Vince Chrisman. Several other pieces related to fictional characters also appear in the program.

             For the third consecutive year, YCB has invited a student conductor from Eastern Michigan University to lead the Band.  This year it is Brad Faryniarz, who will conduct the Band in the Frecobaldi "Toccata." 

             However, the very special feature of the concert is Adam Frey, world-renowned professional euphonium player, who will perform with the Band his own arrangement of "Gabriel's Oboe" (from the movie "The Mission"), the classic euphonium solo "Beautiful Colorado," and his own arrangements of "Nessun Dorma" (from Puccini's "Turandot") and variations on "Rule Britannia."