Sounds of the Season 2010

I guess that an entry about our annual Thanksgiving concert, known as "Sounds of the Seasons" in suburban Chicago is long overdue!

The concert was again at Edman Chapel on the campus of Wheaton College. Our special guests for the evening included euphonium soloist, Derick Kane and the Salvation Story Steel Orchestra from the The Salvation Army Red Shield Center, Chicago Englewood.

Derick has a long resume as a euphonium soloist and since 1976 has been the principal euphonium in the Salvation Army International Staff Band. The Salvation Story Steel Orchestra has the goal of providing an opportunity for Englewood youth to do something wonderful while building capacity into their lives. Both Derick and the steel orchestra played magnificently and received standing ovations from our audience.

The devotional thought for the evening was brought by Colonel Néstor Nüesch, second in charge of the Salvation Army Central Territory and the benediction was pronounced by Lt. Colonel Ralph Bukiewicz who is in charge of the Salvation Army work in metropolitan Chicago.

As has become our tradition, the concert concluded with our "Choral Benediction" that included the CSB Chorus augmented by many CSB Alumni that were present for the evening.

The hall was nearly full with the only real remaining space being in the balcony. The band is grateful to all who gathered for the evening and especially grateful to nearly 150 sponsors and patrons of the concert.

For those who are interested here was the program for the evening:

CSB
Intrada on ‘Monkland’ (Bulla)
Seize the Day (Graham)

Derick Kane
Canaan’s Land (Graham)

CSB Chorus
I Hear A Voice A-Prayin’ (Bright)
Neart To The Heart of God (McAfee/arr. Lucas)

Derick Kane
Donegal Bay (Lovatt-Cooper)

CSB
Victory For Me! (Heaton)
Symphony No. 3, Mvt. 4 – Allegro con brio (Giannini/arr. Himes)

Salvation Story Steel Orchestra
Jump for Joy (Lyons & Lewis/arr. Irvine)

CSB
Crusaders (Goffin)

Derick Kane
The Better World (Bearcroft)

Salvation Story Steel Band
Flight of the Bumble Bee (Rimsky-Korsakov/arr. Mast)
Caribbean Sing-Along (arr. Himes)

CSB
Give Thanks (Smith/arr. Pearce)
Let Everything Praise (Cordner)

Derick Kane
Christmas Dance (Kane)
Glorious Ventures (Graham)

CSB & Congregation
Joy To The World (arr. Himes)

CSB & CSB Alumni Chorus
Choral Benediction (Himes)

Location Correction!

In my last post I gave you some incorrect information when I indicated we would be at the same church in Jackson, MI on Saturday, November 6 and Sunday, November 7.

On Saturday night at 7:00 pm we will be in concert at:

First United Methodist Church
275 W Michigan Avenue
Jackson, MI

On Sunday morning we will participate in the 9:00 am and 11:15 am worship services at:

Spring Arbor Free Methodist Church
120 E Main St
Spring Arbor, MI 49283

I apologize for any confusion I may have created in my last post.

Upcoming Visit to Jackson, MI

On Saturday, November 6 and Sunday, November 7 the Chicago Staff Band will be visiting Jackson, MI. On Saturday evening at 7:00 pm we will be in concert at the First United Methodist Church located at 275 W Michigan Avenue, Jackson, MI.

On Sunday we will participate in both 9:00 am and 11:00 am worship services at the same church.

For more information visit the Jackson, MI Salvation Army web site at: JacksonTSA

Grand Rapids Kroc Center This Weekend!

The Chicago Staff Band is honored to be participating this weekend at the grand opening weekend of the Grand Rapids Kroc Center. We will be doing a concert on Saturday night and participating in the worship service on Sunday morning.

For full information on all of the events of the weekend visit:

http://www.grkroccenter.org/

A quote from their web site says:

7:15 pm: The Salvation Army Chicago Staff Band Concert
The Salvation Army Chicago Staff Band will perform a free concert to an audience of 400 in the Worship & Performing Arts Center. Doors open 6:15PM. Tickets are required to attend and seating is limited.

The worship service on Sunday morning begins at 10:00 am.

The address of the Kroc Center is:
2500 S. Division Street
Grand Rapids, MI

ISB 120 Tickets

While the CSB has a full schedule for 2010-11 that will take place before our participation at ISB 120, there is no doubt that ISB 120 is generating a lot of interest. Because of that interest, I'm writing this entry that basically repeats information being distributed by the ISB. Over this past weekend, I received the following in an e-mail. You may have also received this and if you did, I apologize for repeating it.

"There are just 7 days to go before tickets for ISB120 (the 8 staff band spectacular) go on general sale, on Saturday 9th October 2010 at 9am.

If you're ordering your tickets by post, best post your letter today!
The Royal Albert Hall address is; Kensington Gore, LONDON, SW7 2AP.

The box office will be open from 9am on Saturday 9th October 2010 for personal callers. The box office telephone number is 020 7589 8212 and the Royal Albert Hall website is http://www.facebook.com/l/eed2aeaNFn34JJAYXf0_blLUKgA;www.royalalberthall.com

Don't forget, you only need one ticket for this event.
During the course of the afternoon, each staff band will be giving an individual concert and, following an interval, all 8 staff bands will appear on stage together, wow!"

So, if you're going to be in London and want tickets, Saturday, October 9 is the date. You can receive your own information on the event in at least 3 ways.

1. Visit http://www.isb120.com/ and sign up at the bottom of the page to get the newsletter.
2. Follow isb120 on Twitter. If you aren't on Twitter but want to see what's going on visit http://twitter.com/isb120.
3. Check out the Facebook event called ISB120. If you're not on Facebook, the event page is public and can be accessed at http://bit.ly/caNl6f .

CSB Retreat Up Next

After a quick start last week where we had one rehearsal and were on duty for the public welcome of the cadets we are off to our annual rehearsal retreat tomorrow night. We'll read through a bunch of repertoire and spend some quality time together.

For those who are interested I've just updated both our roster and schedule on the web site. The roster can be found at http://ow.ly/2FAFp . The schedule is at http://ow.ly/2FAFK

See you on the other side of the retreat!

Visit to Indianapolis, IN - May 22-23, 2010

The Chicago Staff Band has just returned from a visit to the Indianapolis, Indiana area. This visit is the last out of town weekend for the 2009-10 season. We still have two rehearsals, a recording session and the Congress weekend left before we take our summer break.

We started out on Saturday morning heading through Indiana on I-65. Getting out of Chicago was a breeze which is unusual. But, after having had lunch we felt right at home as our bus encountered a significant traffic jam as we approached Indianapolis.

Both the Saturday night concert and Sunday morning worship services were held at the Mount Comfort United Methodist Church in Greenfield, IN. Ernie Alder, a member of the Methodist congregation, has ties to the Salvation Army and had initiated the invitation for the band to return to the Indianapolis area.

Upon arrival we had a quick sound check followed by a home cooked dinner. Ample time remained for us to finish our final concert preparations. A nice responsive audience gathered for the 7:00 pm concert. At the conclusion of the concert we recognized the service of our travel coordinator, Major Robert Doliber, who will be leaving the band at the conclusion of the season when he will be taking an overseas appointment.

On Sunday morning the band and other area Salvationists gathered with our new Methodist friends for worship at 9:00 am. Our Executive Officer, Lt. Colonel Richard Vander Weele brought the message of the morning as we celebrated Pentecost Sunday together. An ensemble was called upon to open the 11:17 am contemporary worship service before we boarded the bus for a relatively quick and painless return to THQ.

Our appreciation goes out to the Salvation Army’s Indiana Division and the people of the Mount Comfort United Methodist Church. Special thanks go to Majors Vicki and Dick Amick, Captain Marcos Ramirez, Ernie Alder and Pastor C. Reid Walker.

Now, for those who are interested, here’s the Saturday night concert play list:

Montclair Citadel (Bulla)
Welcome & Prayer
Concertino for Flugel and Band (Himes/Beth Cooper, soloist)
Sirocco (Graham)
Soon and Very Soon (Crouch/Karl Strand, soloist)
Then Will the Very Rocks Cry Out (arr. Hayes)
Concertino for Trombone (David, arr. Condon/Matthew Luhn, soloist)
Let Everything Praise (Cordner)
Lord, Lord, You Sure Been Good to Me (arr. Alexander)
INTERMISSION
El Es El Senor (Jones)
Slavonic Dance No. 8, Opus 46 (Dvorak)
Through My Savior’s Merit (Condon)
Cause for Celebration (Himes)
The Stars and Stripes Forever (Sousa, arr. Himes)
Closing Prayer
Choral Benediction (Himes)