Columbia, Maryland, August 30th, 2007 - The Columbia Concert Band will perform their annual Young People's Concert on Sunday, September 16th at 3:00 p.m. at River Hill High School, 12101 Rt. 108, in Clarksville, MD. Admission is free and no tickets are required. For more information call (301) 596-9783 or visit the Columbia Concert Band web site at http://www.columbiaband.org.

This year's theme is "Broadway", and will feature music from award-winning musicals "The Lion King", "The Sound of Music", "The Wizard of Oz", and "Oliver." Specialized ensembles from within the band will each play an arrangement of "Do-Re-Mi" from "The Sound of Music". The traditional post-concert "instrument petting zoo" will also be featured. This is when younger members of the audience are encouraged to come see the instruments up close, and even try them out with a musician's permission and supervision.

This concert is possible, in part, thanks to the Howard County Arts Council through a grant from the Howard County Government.

The Columbia Concert Band is a non-profit community band that has been performing for local communities since 1983. The band's purpose is to give non-professional musicians the opportunity to perform challenging band literature while entertaining the public in the Baltimore and Washington regional areas. The band is affiliated with Howard Community College, which gives credit to students for band participation.

Thanks for taking the time to keep current on the activities and plans of the Columbia Concert Band. It's great to know that folks are interested in us because our main goal is to make meaningful connections with our community through music. It was a great Summer for us, and we loved playing for the large and enthusiastic audiences at the Columbia Lakefront and at the Bloomsbury Community Center in Catonsville. One of my hopes is that the Band members enjoy the variety of music that I program, and I suspect that many got a kick out of the lighter fare that the outdoor concerts call for. We certainly learned a lot of music, and from the crowds' reactions it appeared that you also liked the marches, movie and Broadway music, pop medleys, and jazz that we prepared! I already have some thoughts about some similarly entertaining music for next Summer, but now we must focus on the two performances that will take place this season.

As I write this, we are putting the final touches on our Children's Concert, which will be a Broadway extravaganza. Our formal Winter Concert will offer an interesting variety of music - some holiday tunes, some original concert band repertoire (no surprise if you know me!)...some pretty straightforward, and some quite difficult. For you serious fans of symphonic band music, I think I will be able to surprise you with a piece by Ralph Vaughan Williams and one by Gustav Holst - NOT the "standards" that you might be expecting! Two other highlights will be Howard Hanson's "Chorale and Allelulia," and a gorgeous new piece by Steven Bryant entitled "Dusk."

As always, I hope that you (and perhaps 20-30 of your closest friends!) can join us. Thanks for your ongoing support!

Quarterly Quote: "The scratches in Yoko Ono records are moments of relief." ~S.A. Sachs

Appointees and Volunteers
CCB-CJB Liason - Jodi Shochet
Librarian - Marilyn Kelsey
Curator - Fred Shermer
Uniforms - Bill DeVuono
CCB Webmaster - Suzanne Hassell
CJB Director - Pete Barenbregge
CJB Webmaster - Matt Williams