Spring Pops Livestream

Spring Pops!

Friday, April 11, 2025 • 7:00 PM
The Concord Band
James O‘Dell, Music Director and Conductor

View Livestream

Program

Concord	Clare Grundman
North Bridge Portrait	Stephen Bulla
Selections from 1776	Sherman Edwards  arr. Frank Erickson
Concord and Lexington	George Wright Briggs, Jr.
Intermission
Seeds of Revolution	Daniel Lutz
Taunting Conflict Independence
Video Games Live Part 1	Marty O’Donnell
Epic Gaming Themes	arr. Paul Murtha
Conducted by Jim Dorney
Soundtrack Highlights from Guardians of the Galaxy	arr. Michael Brown

Guest Conductor Cindy Blanchard

Cindy Blanchard

Cindy Blanchard earned her BA in Music Performance and Composition from Bowdoin College. Her mentor was Elliott Schwartz, a life-long researcher of Vaughan Williams. She earned her MA from The College of New Jersey and Juilliard, studying conducting and trumpet. Ms. Blanchard has been a freelance musician and music educator on the east coast for nearly 30 years, teaching bands, strings, choral groups and general music to students ranging in age from 3 to the 80’s. She founded the Intergenerational Band and Harwich Community Orchestra (now the Cape Cod Community Orchestra) and the Cape Cod Brass. She has been a member of the Concord Band since 2011. Other interests are composing, genealogy and art.

Conductor's Corner

James O'Dell
Music Director

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music (Again)

As we spring forward and resume outdoor music performances, the creative musicians of the Concord Band have assembled a fantastic variety of music presented by member chamber groups. From classical to pop, jazz to Dixieland, familiar favorites and well-known gems, the hills of the Fruitlands Museum will once again come alive with music! 

Each evening program will feature three small groups presenting their "set" interspersed with informative and interesting groups presenting about the music, composers, and each ensemble. Don't miss this special opportunity to pack a picnic dinner, support live music, Fruitlands Museum, and the many talented musicians of the Concord Band!

Musically Yours,
Jim O’Dell, Music Director
The Concord Band

The Community Band with a Professional Attitude

by Daniel S. Diamond, PhD

In 1994, when the Concord Band began to search for the successor to William M. Toland, who was planning to retire after 32 years as the Band's first Music Director, I proposed that we adopt as our motto The Community Band with a Professional Attitude to distinguish ourselves from most other community bands.

We are not a professional band. The majority of our members do not support themselves from income earned playing their instruments. Furthermore, Concord Band members are volunteers; the only paid members of the Band are our Music Director and Assistant Conductor.

So what does it mean for the nonprofessional Concord Band to have a professional attitude? It means that we make a significant effort to do everything both musically and in support of our musical product-as well as we can, subject to our natural skills, training, the amount of personal time available and the Band's resources. In a past Notes from the Concord Band newsletter, I wrote that in the area of marketing, the Concord Band really has to do most everything that the Boston Symphony Orchestra does, but only with volunteers and substantially less budget.

William M. Toland
Music Director Laureate

Over time, any community-based music performance organization will seek to improve itself through more innovative programming and performances of increasing quality. These will attract larger audiences and more skilled members. These, in turn, will make it possible for the ensemble to tackle more difficult works. Each of the Concord Band's three Music Directors has had his own approach.

William M. Toland, named Music Director Laureate shortly after his death, focused on what he considered to be good music, but avoided music that he thought was too demanding. He initiated the important practice of bringing in high caliber guest conductors, adding an important dimension to the education and experience of our members.

Working with a new or guest conductor is a very special experience, particularly for amateur musicians. Each conductor has his or her own unique characteristics, both in rehearsing a piece of music and in communicating information about it during a performance. Guest conductors tend to elevate almost everything in a player: One's attention level is elevated significantly. Preparation for rehearsals and performances with a guest conductor is noticeably more intense than usual. All of this inevitably leads to an improved performance level, which one hopes will carry forward.

Dr. William G. McManus
Music Director Emeritus

Concord Band guest conductors have included Frederick Fennell, William Revelli, Arnald Gabriel, Leonard B. Smith, John Corley, Willis Traphagan, Peter Hazzard, Lee Chrisman, James Curnow, Steven Grimo, Thomas G. Everett, Alfred Dentino, Christopher Morehouse, Paul Berler, William H. Silvester, Malcolm W. Rowell, Steven Barbas, Elliot Del Borgo and Keith Brion.

Music Director Emeritus, Dr. William G. McManus, was willing to have the Band take on challenging works, which depended on members' polishing their parts at home and he planned for extra rehearsal time before presenting such works in concert.

James O'Dell
Music Director

Current Music Director, James O'Dell, assumes that the Concord Band can handle pretty much anything, but in his first decade, at least, he has avoided works that would require so much personal practice and rehearsal time that it would detract from other pieces on a program.

What has been the result of the efforts of our three Music Directors and our membership, in which there is very little turnover? In 2013, the Concord Band received the Sudler Silver Scroll from the John Philip Sousa Foundation. This award, "North America's most prestigious award for community concert bands, recognizes community concert bands of outstanding musical excellence." The Concord Band was the first community band in New England to receive the Sudler Silver Scroll.

The first five pieces written for the Concord Band were all gifts. In 1974, the Town of Concord Bicentennial Celebration Committee provided small sums to the Concord Band, Orchestra and Players to have works written on the occasion of the Bicentennial. Concord Band Music Director William M. Toland approached internationally recognized composer Norman Delio Joio, who proposed re-scoring his own piano composition, Satiric Dances for a Comedy by Aristophanes, for wind ensemble. This first commission of the Concord Band has been extremely successful. It has been performed all over the world by concert bands from high school to professional military bands.

The Concord Band's outstanding contributions to concert band repertoire.

Since 1967 the Concord Band has either commissioned, or received as gifts, 83 new compositions and arrangements for symphonic wind ensemble—possibly more than any other community band in the world.

Additional composers of works for the Concord Band have included Peter Hazzard, Richard Cornell, Robert Sirota, John Bavicchi, Douglas Toland, Kurt Phinney, Warren Barker, John Higgins, James Curnow, Thomas J. McGah, Dan Lutz, Stephen Bulla, William Gordon, Lewis Buckley, Julie Giroux, Elliot Del Borgo, Jerry Seeco, Roger Cichy, Andrew Boysen, Jr., Rene Pfister et al, Jerry Vabulas, William M. Toland, and Dr. William G. McManus.

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Dan Diamond is the senior member of the Concord Band, having joined the Band as a percussionist in January, 1970, and is now in his 50th year. He has been a member of its Board of Trustees for most of his time in the Band. In 2009, he received the Band's Lifetime Service Award.

Spotlight: Andrew Boysen, Jr.

Andrew Boysen Jr.
Composer

Andrew Boysen, Jr. (b. 1968) is presently a professor in the music department at the University of New Hampshire, where he conducts the wind symphony and teaches con- ducting, composition and orchestra- tion. Previously, Boysen served as an assistant professor and Acting Asso- ciate Director of Bands at Indiana State University, where he directed the Marching Sycamores, conducted the symphonic band and taught in the music education department. Prior to that appointment, he was the Direc- tor of Bands at Cary-Grove (IL) High School and was the Music Director and Conductor of the Deer- field Community Concert Band. He remains active as a guest conduc- tor and clinician, appearing with high school, university and festival ensembles across the United States, Great Britain, and Australia.

Boysen earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Con- ducting at the Eastman School of Music, where he served as Conduc- tor of the Eastman Wind Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. He received his Master of Music degree in Wind Conducting from Northwestern University in 1993 and his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Music Composi- tion from the University of Iowa in 1991.

He maintains an active schedule as a composer, having received commissions from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, the Iowa All-State Band, the Rhode Island All-State Band, the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association, the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association, and many university and high school con- cert bands across the United States. Boysen won the International Horn Society Composition Contest in 2000, the University of Iowa Honors Composition Prize in 1991 and has twice won the Claude T. Smith Memorial Band Composition Contest, in 1991 and 1994. Boy- sen has several published works with the Neil A. Kjos Music Com- pany, Wingert-Jones Music, Masters Music, and C. Alan Publica- tions, including pieces for band, orchestra, clarinet and piano, and brass choir.

Spotlight: Roger Cichy

Roger Cichy
Composer and Conductor

Since the appearance of his first published work in 1985, Roger Cichy has been a prolific composer whose works often paint experiences and emotions on a canvas of sound. The composer’s works contain a number of signature elements, among them is his unique use of rhythm and pronounced use of percussion. In many of his works, Cichy employs what he calls “compelling rhythms,” whose repetition drive his melodies forward. His appreciation for percussion’s unlimited sounds and timbres is also notable. Cichy’s work is further defined by his fondness for jazz rhythms, liberal use of strong countermelodies, and thick harmonic texture.

Roger Cichy brings his background as a music educator to his work as a composer. Roger holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts in Music Education degree from The Ohio State University, but also did extensive study in composition with Edward Montgomery, Marshall Barnes and Joseph Levey at Ohio State. He has directed concert bands and marching bands at the elementary, high school and college levels, serving as Director of Bands at both the University of Rhode Island and Iowa State University.

Today, Roger is a freelance composer and arranger, writing for high school, university and professional bands, professional orchestras, and the commercial music industry. His works range from small ensembles literature to compositions and arrangements for marching band, concert band, and symphonic orchestra. He has over 300 compositions and arrangements to his name, including those published by Daehn Publications, C. Alan Publications, and Ludwig Masters Publications. Cichy’s music has been recorded by premier ensembles such as the North Texas Wind Symphony, the United States Air Force Academy Band and the University of Georgia Wind Symphony. He has received numerous composition awards from The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) for serious music.

Composing music for a wide variety of genres including orchestras, choruses, wind bands, small ensembles and music for film, Cichy is widely sought for commissions. The music of Roger Cichy is continually being performed throughout the United State and abroad.

His works have been performed at many prestigious conventions including the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinics, CBDNA National and Regional Conventions, ASBDA Conventions, MENC National and Regional Conventions, several All-State Festivals and appear on many contest lists throughout the country. In 2008, Mark Masters released a CD recording of Cichy’s music titled Sounds Sketches and Ideas, which received Grammy listings in three categories. His film score for the PBS documentary The American St. Nick earned him an Emmy.

Spotlight: Dr William McManus

Dr William G McManus
Music Director Emeritus

Dr. William McManus was Music Director of the Concord Band from 1995 to 2009. Upon his retirement, he was named Music Director Emeritus.

Dr McManus was Associate Professor of Music Education at Boston University from 2003-2008,and Chair of the Music Education Department from 2005 until 2008. Prior to joining Boston University, he taught at New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, and Fitchburg State College, and served on the National Executive Board and as Eastern Division President of MENC (The National Association for Music Education), and as President, All State Concert Chair, Professor Programs Director, and Research Chair of MMEA (Massachusetts Music Educators Association).

A graduate of The Boston Conservatory and Boston University, Dr. McManus taught music in Leicester (MA) and Westborough (MA), and was Director of Fine and Performing Arts for the Belmont Public Schools from 1984 until 2001.

In 1995, the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) awarded Dr McManus the MMEA Distinguished Service Award, the most prestigious award presented by that organization. He has also been awarded a Lowell Mason Award and Visionary Leadership Award by the MMEA. In 2008. Dr McManus was honored by the Boston University College of Fine Arts as the recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award.

An active conductor, Dr McManus was Music Director of the Concord Band from 1995 – 2008. He has been conductor of the 215th Army Band, the Framingham Concert Band, and the Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble. He has appeared as guest conductor of the U.S. Air Force Band, The United States Youth Wind Ensemble, the Boston University Concert Band, and he has conducted many All-District and All State Bands.

In recent years, Dr McManus has concentrated on arranging music for concert band and jazz ensemble and composing original music for symphonic band and various chamber groups. Recent compositions for symphonic band include Fruitlands Overture (2010), Elegy (2012), and Blue Sterling (2013).

Music Director James O'Dell

Music Director James O'Dell

James O'Dell became the third Music Director of the Concord Band in March, 2009, after the 50th Anniversary concert. He has been professionally active in instrumental music and music education for the past forty years. Mr. O'Dell holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from Southern Oregon University and a Master of Music degree in Tuba, Euphonium, and Bass Trombone Performance from the University of Oregon. His graduate work also included residency at Arizona State University in the DMA program.

Mr. O'Dell is currently the Associate Dean for Academic Operations of the Conservatory at The Boston Conservatory. Previous appointments during a 25-year tenure at the Conservatory include serving as Interim Dean and Director of the Music Division. He is the Associate and Principal Guest Conductor of the Metropolitan Wind Symphony and past Music Director of the Middlesex Concert Band and Southeastern MA Community Concert Band. Mr. O'Dell has served as Director of Bands at Boston University and Mansfield University (PA). He is founder of the New England Collegiate Jazz Festival, Boston Tuba Christmas, and cofounder of the Boston Tuba Quartet and The Brass Consortium.

Assistant Conductor Steven Barbas

Assistant Conductor Steven Barbas

Steven Barbas is a Music Specialist at Waltham High School, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble, Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, and Pep Band. He also teaches Music Theory and Technology, Sound Recording, and directs the Middle School Honor Band. He received the Master of Music degree in conducting from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, where he studied with Mallory Thompson. He previously earned the Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude in Music Education and Clarinet Performance from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

Prior to working in Waltham, Mr. Barbas was director of bands in Bedford, MA. Under his direction, the Bedford High School Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band consistently received Superior and Excellent ratings at festivals. He is director of the Belmont Parent/Teacher Band, is active as a freelance conductor and clarinetist, has appeared onstage in several community theatre productions, and sings in his church choir. Mr. Barbas has been a member of the Concord Band since 2004, and has been Assistant Conductor since 2011.

Forward March: The Interpretation and Understanding of a March

Dr. Steven Grimo
Lt. Col. USAF (Ret.)

Dr. Steven Grimo began his career in music as a percussionist, attending the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts where he earned a BME in Music Education and a BA in Percussion Performance. After a successful teaching career in New England, Steve spent 22 years conducting US Air Force Bands. While in the Air Force, he earned his DMA from Catholic University. Steve has since retired from the Air Force and two University teaching positions. He has been the guest conductor of the Concord Band on multiple occasions.

Marches have been composed throughout every period of Western Music. Masters such as Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Bruckner, and Wagner have all composed original works in this form. The march qualifies as an important part of wind literature and band heritage. Conductors sometimes mistakenly look upon marches as secondary musical offerings, rather than recognizing the joy and energy produced by such programming “gems.” This highly stylized form, like a waltz or minuet, served much like a dance for bodily motion. The march was a functional musical form designed to keep a regular beat with an encouraging sound to keep troops in step.

In the seventeenth century, small bands of musicians marched, participated in processions, and provided rallying sounds for large gatherings. These early collections of instrumentalists usually consisted of winds and drums; “louder was better” for the open-air performances. By the eighteenth century, military musicians performed short and simple marches. During the mid-eighteenth century, the military band consisted of winds in pairs with an added side drum and bass drum; the trumpet and sackbut were occasionally added. It was not until the French Revolution that large wind bands resembled the ones we know today. As composers began to write for larger ensembles, the musical sophistication of a march began to improve. The history of the wind band closely paralleled the development of performance practices for the march.

As the nineteenth century approached, percussionists and wind musicians were assigned to military units, establishing the lasting concept of a “military” band. As military bands expanded their functions, performances began to include concerts for events such as the arrival of dignitaries. This movement directly led to a variety of musical styles performed by military musicians, all of which included various dance types and the occasional added vocal or instrumental soloist. During the early nineteenth century, Wilhelm Wieprecht of Germany (inventor of the tuba) worked extensively to establish what we have come to know as the “concert” band.

Instrumentation was established and compositions and transcriptions of orchestral music were performed. This change in performance practice moved away from the “military” band concept toward the concert band of today. Patrick S. Gilmore, who was active in the United States from 1849 until his death in 1892, is considered the “Father of the American Band.” The Marine Band, founded in 1798, consisted of 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 horns, 1 bassoon, and a drum. It was not until 1861 that the band was authorized 30 musicians. The military tradition of musicians in uniform continued through Sousa’s time and continues worldwide today.

The popularity of the quickstep, a dance popular in the nineteenth century,  became the musical foundation of dancing as well as marching. The quickstep is sectional, with repeats and no key changes. The quickstep resembles the galop (a quick dance in 2/4 time). Also during this time were grand marches, which were slower and longer than the quickstep and were in 4/4 meter. These grand marches were like the classical minuet with two strains (each repeated), a trio in a closely-related key, and a da capo (a return to the first strain). This form became the standard for marches after the middle of the century.

Like the poise and passion of a Strauss waltz, great marches are cheerful and driven to make your body move and your feet dance. Creativity, inspiration, and formal structure qualify such a composition as an important part of band repertoire. Marches are truly expressions of “music in motion,” full of humor, inventiveness and a descriptive style. The age of the march coincided with the development of the professional wind band. The transition from the Gilmore band of 1859 and Sousa’s designation as the leader of the Marine Band in 1880 encouraged prosperity and progress in concert band development. March masters such as Sousa, Fillmore, Alford, K. L. King, Goldman, J. J. Richards, R. B. Hall, and Russell Alexander developed a musical form like Johann Strauss and his treatment of the waltz.

March Styles—One of the main factors in performance is selecting the appropriate tempo. Moving a metronome marking up or down can determine the need for single or double tonguing for the brass section. These tempos are characteristic of various periods and historical function. Early American military marches were 120 beats per minute, and circus marches were double time, creating excitement and intensity for the Big Top performers. Slower than American marches, European marches are between 104 and 112 beats per minute with a more deliberate pulse. German and British marches have similar characteristics and tempo qualities as well. The Paso Doble, known as a Spanish or Latin American march, is relaxed with a rubato and operatic flavor. Some of these marches may be quicksteps with excitement and a festive quality, much like circus marches.

Tempo and Pulse—Rhythmic accuracy is the single most important factor when performing a march. Problems arise when an ensemble or section plays “in tempo” but not “in rhythm.” Incorrect subdivision and note placement cause unsteady motion within the music. The march should feel effortless and comfortable for both the players and the audience.

Articulations and Dynamics—Marches are performed with a variety of articulations. Notes that are not slurred should be played shorter than written. Accents are approached by adding length and weight or by creating space between each note. Avoiding the hard-tongue attack and using more air support will produce a better accent. Dynamic contrast and creativity will be essential to the performance. Variations between each strain of a march and contrast between sections, will make for an exciting and effective performance. Consider changes and variations in instrumentation from strain to strain. Avoid the constant tutti band sound. Mix and match various colors and contrast.

Essential Elements

1. Tone quality: intonation, control
2. Accuracy: articulations, unity
3. Tempo: precision, ensemble
4. Interpretation: style, phrasing, accents, dynamics, balance, expression

Objective Checklist

1. Rhythmic energy
2. March style, detached style
3. Attack and breath
4. Release, tone and tongue
5. Accents
6. Dynamics, phrasing, expression
7. Inner voices: balance, definition
8. Countermelody
9. Bass line and horn balance to melodic line
10. Basic march elements: melody, harmony and rhythm
11. Tone quality
12. Vitality, motion and character, clarity of rhythm
13. Percussion: rhythm, movement, tempo and precision
14. Clarity of upper voices, ornamentation, accuracy and unity
15. Balance, blend, and projection

Music Director Emertius, Dr William G. McManus

Dr. William McManus
Music Director Emeritus

Dr. William McManus was Music Director of the Concord Band from 1995 to 2009. Upon his retirement as Music Director, he was named Music Director Emeritus. A graduate of the Boston Conservatory, with advanced degrees from Boston University, Dr. McManus was, until his retirement in 2001, Director of Fine and Performing Arts for the Belmont Public Schools. In 2004, he was appointed Associate Professor of Music Education at the College of Fine Arts at Boston University and was Chair of the Music Education Department until his retirement in June 2008.

The Massachusetts Music Educators Association awarded Dr. McManus the Lowell Mason Award and the Distinguished Service Award. He was also given the Conductor of the Year Award by the Massachusetts Instrumental Conductors Association. In March 2008, he received the Visionary Leadership Award, the most prestigious award given by the MMEA. In May of 2008, he was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Award by the faculty of the Boston University College of Fine Arts. In October, 2008, Dr. McManus received the Concord Band’s Lifetime Service Award.

Dr. McManus served as President of the MMEA from 1991 to 1993 and President of the Eastern Division of MENC: The National Association for Music Education from 1999 to 2001. He has been Conductor of the Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble, the Framingham Concert Band, the 215th Army Band, and the United States Youth Wind Ensemble, and has been a guest conductor throughout the Eastern United States and Europe.

Since his retirement from Boston University, Dr. McManus has been living in Sandwich on Cape Cod where he continues to compose and arrange music for concert band and jazz ensemble. He also con- tinues to play jazz piano and saxophone, performing with several jazz bands in the Boston area.