July 2010
YCB and WCC to join forces to create the "Washtenaw Community Concert Band." For additional information, click on the "News Archive" link below.
YCB's first television ad is currently appearing. Click here to watch.
Joe Burke re-elected as the Band's president for 2010-2010; Board member changes. For additional information, see YCB Notes 38 on the Director's Blog page.
Michael Kashubosky named as the Band's business manager. For additional information, see YCB Notes 38 on the Director's Blog page.
Diane Keller, president and CEO of the merging Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor Chambers of Commerce to serve as May 27 concert announcer.
Indoor concert dates/times/places for 2010-2011 now available on the Concerts page, along with updated information about the remainder of the 2009-2010 season.
April 2010
This fall, the Ypsilanti Community Band will partner with WCC to provide a new opportunity for WCC students who are passionate about musical performance. YCB and WCC are pleased to introduce the Washtenaw Community Concert Band.
Through this new collaboration, the 75-member Ypsilanti Community Band gains a ready source of new musicians and WCC students enjoy access to experienced performers and venues in which to showcase their talent.
"This new agreement revives a relationship WCC and YCB have had in the past," said Bill Abernethy, Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences. "The band currently performs three or four community concerts a year on campus. The College also is developing a two-credit course to introduce student musicians to the large concert band format. WCC students don't have to take the course to participate in the band, but I'm sure they will find it helpful."
The Ypsilanti Community Band will retain its identity and
legal structure as a Michigan non-profit, and it will continue to rehearse and
store equipment at Whitmore Lake High School. Solo performances by band members
and guest artists from Eastern Michigan University and the University of
Michigan also will be featured, and during the summer months, the new concert
band will perform in outdoor venues around the Ypsilanti area as it has in past
years.
"Many of the best community bands in the country and in Michigan have a formal affiliation with their local-area community college," said Jerry Robbins, YCB's conductor since 1998. "We are delighted to have the opportunity to work together with WCC in this way to create a new, larger, and better concert band."
For more information on the new Washtenaw Community Concert Band, call 734-252-9221, e-mail ypsicommband@gmail.com or visit www.ypsicommband.org
February 2010
Internationally-renowned professional euphonium soloist Adam Frey will perform four solos with the YCB on the February 18 concert. Additional information about Adam Frey, who has performed to great acclaim with bands and orchestras throughout the world, may be found at his website.YCB is sponsoring a free clinic for middle/high school euphonium (and, space available, other low brass--trombone, tuba--players). Guest artist Adam Frey will be the clinician. The free clinic will be held 6-7 p.m., February 18, in Room 101 of the Morris Lawrence Building at Washtenaw Community College. Free pizza/pop/dessert will be provided at 7:00 to clinic participants (and those providing transportation for them).
In addition to guest artist Adam Frey, the YCB's February 18 concert, generously sponsored by Don and Barbara Chaffin, John Metzger, and Metzger's Restaurant, will include an appearance by EMU student guest conductor Brad Faryniarz and an evening full of family-friendly entertainment.
April 24, 2009
At last night's concert, the 2009 Ken Bowman Memorial Scholarship to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp was awarded to Maura Ferrell, a trombone player at Ann Arbor Open School. Bill McFarlin, Vice President of Development for Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and Isabell Salley, the 2008 scholarship winner, were on hand to assist with the presentation.
March 4, 2009
Video from the 2008 holiday concert and from the 30th Anniversary concert is online! Search for "Ypsilanti Community Band" on YouTube, or just follow the links from our multimedia page.
The two tributes we received for our 30th anniversary can now be viewed online: from State Representative Smith, from Governor Granholm.
December 16, 2008.
Ann Arbor's Community Television Network, Channel 17, has announced, for December 25 at 11:30 a.m., and 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, and 7:30 p.m., broadcasts of their recording of the performance of the Ypsilanti Community Choir and the Ypsilanti Community Band in Pease Auditorium at EMU on December 11.
December 15, 2008.
A tribute to Lorne Kennedy, with photo from our December 11 concert, may be seen on the December 15 issue of the Ann Arbor Chronicle at annarborchronicle.com.
December 12, 2008.
A YCB woodwind ensemble, under the direction of assistant conductor Pat Padilla, performed the prelude and played for the hymns for the funeral service of Lorne Kennedy, held at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Ypsilanti. YCB trumpeter Joe Burke played "Taps" at the cemetery.
December 8, 2008.
It is with enormous sadness that we announce the unexpected death, of a massive stroke, of Lorne Kennedy,charter and 30-year continuous member of YCB. Kennedy, a member of numerous ensembles in the area, was YCB's principal clarinet player and section leader. The December 11 concert will be dedicated to his memory. Funeral services will be held on Friday, December 12 at 11 a.m. at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Ypsilanti.
December 1, 2008.
The Winter issue of the "Gleanings" of the Ypsilanti Historical Society contains a lengthy article, with a number of photos, about the "First 30 Seasons" of the YCB.This article can be accessed at ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org