Jazz Great Phil Wilson to Appear at Spring Pops

Guest Artist Phil Wilson
Trombone

This year's Spring Pops Concerts should be swinging affairs when legendary jazz trombonist Phil Wilson takes the stage as the Concord Band's guest artist. Phil is an internationally renowned musician who has performed with such jazz greats as Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman. He initially came to prominence as first trombonist and jazz soloist with the early '60's edition of Woody Herman's "swinging herd." Wilson recorded 12 albums during his stay with the Herman Band. After 3 years with Herman, Phil joined the Dorsey Brothers Band. In 1965 after nine exhausting years of bus tours and one-night stands, he accepted a faculty position at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

During his thirty years at Berklee, Phil has established himself as one of the pioneers of jazz education. In addition to being a world-class trombonist and jazz educator, Phil is known throughout the jazz world as a first-class composer and arranger. His arrangement of the Joe Zawinul hit, Mercy, Mercy, which was recorded by the Buddy Rich Band, won him a Grammy Award nomination.

Work by Thomas J. McGah to be Premiered

Thomas J. McGah
composer

In keeping with its long tradition of commissioning new works for concert band, the Concord Band will be presenting the world premier of Reflections of Emerson, a new composition by Boston composer Thomas J. McGah. A professor of composition at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, McGah has published many works in a variety of genres, including several compositions for concert band commissioned by the MIT Symphonic Band. McGah's new work is a unique composition for narrator and concert band based on writings of the great 19th century author Ralph Waldo Emerson, who lived in Concord for many years. Concord Band Music Director, Dr. William McManus, conceived the idea of commissioning a new work based on the writings of Concord authors, and the Band's Board of Directors was successful in obtaining a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to support the project.

The new composition is a single movement work with five distinct sections, separated by excerpts from Emerson's writings. McGah has attempted to compose a piece to reflect musically the meaning of Emerson's words. The excerpts from Emerson's writing were selected by the composer. In the introduction to the piece, McGah says to the audience: "Let us listen and reflect upon four excerpts from Emerson's writings and ask ourselves the following–Is Ralph Waldo Emerson a man whose words speak to us 'moderns', or do his ideas and beliefs belong only to the past?"

Thomas McGah has been a member of the Berklee faculty since 1973. He holds memberships in a number of professional and musical organizations, including the Society of Composers; the International Alban Berg Society; and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).

Bill McManus Wins Mass. Music Educators Distinguished Service Award

Dr William G. McManus
Music Director

William G. McManus, who became Music Director of the Concord Band last spring, was recently awarded the 1995 Distinguished Service Award by the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA). The MMEA, whose members are more than 1,200 music educators from across the commonwealth, selects one of its members each year for this prestigious award.

Bill, a Past-President of the MMEA, has been extremely active in the organization for more than 25 years. He has worked at the district level, state level and also the Eastern Division level. Most recently, he has served as chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for Music Education, an organization advocating for the inclusion of music in the public school curriculum.

The award, which was presented to Bill at the 1995 MMEA All State Conference in Danvers, reads as follows:

The Massachusetts Music Educators Association Distinguished Service Award is presented to Dr. William G. McManus for his dedication to high standards in Music Education for all students of Massachusetts; for his inspirational leadership as an administrator in his community and our association; for his tireless efforts to influence state government as to the importance of the arts in every child's educational life; for his total commitment to our profession.
Dr. McManus is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music and holds a Master of Music and Doctor of Education from Boston University. He currently serves as Director of Fine and Performing Arts for the Belmont public schools. He is also on the faculty of Fitchburg State College. Prior to assuming his position in Belmont, McManus was Supervisor of Music in the Leicester Public Schools (1965- 1971) and Coordinator of Music for the Westborough Public Schools (1971-1983).