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| Spring Pops 2025 |
Concord Band Performs Revolutionary Music
The Concord Band will present its spirited Spring Pops! concert on Friday, April 11, 2025, at 51 Walden Performing Arts Center. The program commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord as part of Concord250 festivities this year throughout the town of Concord. The concert features two compositions specially commissioned to honor the historic events of April 19, 1775.
North Bridge Portrait by noted composer and arranger Stephen Bulla was commissioned by the Concord Band. The composition builds on foreboding melodies leading to martial themes, culminating in the fateful “shot heard ’round the world” at Concord's North Bridge. The program also features Seeds of Revolution, recently commissioned by the Lexington Bicentennial Band and composed by Daniel Lutz, Director of University Bands at UMass Lowell. Seeds of Revolution depicts unfolding events and growing sentiments in Massachusetts leading up to April 19, 1775. The performance continues with a march representing both historic towns, aptly titled Concord and Lexington, written by George Briggs, former band director at Harvard University. The Concord250 program concludes with Concord, composed for the U.S. Marine Band by Clare Grundman, incorporating traditional tunes from colonial New England, “The White Cockade,” William Billings' “America,” and “Yankee Doodle.” Grundman noted that “Yankee Doodle” was a very popular tune for jigs and country dances, but for his composition he used 7/8 time for an exuberant and clever ending.
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James Dorney
guest conductor |
Music Director James O’Dell has also selected twenty-first century music representing the digital revolution, drawn from video games and superhero movies. Epic Gaming Themes by Paul Murtha elevates classic video game soundtracks to the stature of film scores. Video Games Live, by Marty O’Donnell, includes excerpts from a Hollywood concert phenomenon celebrating music from video games that toured around the world from 2005 through 2015. This composition will be conducted by Concord Band clarinetist James Dorney, who studied conducting at SUNY Geneseo. The Concord Band will perform Soundtrack Highlights from Guardians of the Galaxy, arranged for band by Michael Brown. The powerful soundtrack is based on popular hits of the 1960s and 1970s, which the film's protagonist plays to remind him of his childhood on Earth.
Tickets to the Spring Pops concert are $25 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. Admission includes open seating and complimentary refreshments. Tickets are available at ticketstage.com/concordband. Additional information about the Concord Band is available at www.concordband.org and on Facebook.
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