Sunday, October 1, 2000

Trivial? Not Entirely!

Do you enjoy the pursuit of trivia? Here's a draft of the Concord Band trivia card deck. Answers (and best guesses) are at the end of this article.

  1. Which composer's music has been played most often by the Concord Band?
  2. How many members were in the Concord Band in its first year?
  3. How many pieces of music does the Concord Band play in a typical year?
  4. How many pieces has the Concord Band played since it was formed in 1959?
  5. How many times has the Concord Band played Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever?
  6. When did the Concord Band play its first commissioned piece of music?
  7. How many pieces have been premiered by the Concord Band?
  8. When did the Concord Band make its first distributed recording?
  9. How many discs has the Concord Band recorded?
  10. What was the artist doing while designing the Concord Band's logo?
  11. In what year did the Concord Band cease marching and become a strictly concert organization?
  12. What is the greatest distance a member of the Concord Band travels from home each week to rehearse at 51 Walden?
  13. How many people have visited the Concord Band Web Site?
  14. How many professional video recordings have been made of the Concord Band?
  15. How many concerts has the Concord Band played at its summer home at Fruitlands Museums in Harvard?
  16. How many copies of the Concord Band's first CD, A Winter Festival, have been sold?
  17. When did these trivial items first appear in print (in a concert program)? Here's one last not-so-trivial item:
  18. How many individuals and businesses contribute funds to the Concord Band in a typical year? (Hint: Not enough!) To increase this number, and help the Band financially, please write a check for as much as you can afford and return it in the enclosed envelope. If you have no return envelope, simply send your check to the address at the top of this newsletter.

Answers to Concord Band Trivia Questions

(1) John Philip Sousa (2) 47 (3) 85-100 (4) more than 1,200 (5) about 175 (6) July 7, 1975 (7) more than 50 (8) 1975 (9) 5: 4 vinyl LP, 1 CD (10) Artist Walter Tymula was watching a Boston Bruins hockey game (11) 1970 (12) 92 miles [from Mashpee] (13) more than 6,500 (14) 3 (15) 65 (16) about 350 [still some available for you to buy!] (17) March, 1999 (18) fewer than 200.