Soloist Featured at the Montgomery County Concert Band Performance

The Montgomery County Concert Band invites you to their annual fall concert on Sunday, November 23 at 3 p.m. at Souderton Area High School. Directed by Charles H. Neidhardt, former Music Department Chairperson for the Methacton School District, the band will feature a variety of audience-pleasing music and classic literature for concert band. Featured soloist, Anthony Triplett, will perform Capriccio for Trombone and Wind Ensemble, a contemporary brass composition written by Frank Gulino, bass trombonist of the Prince George’s Philharmonic. An active soloist, chamber musician and educator, Anthony frequently performs for productions at the Media Theatre, with the Jump City Jazz Orchestra and the Monday Blues Jazz Orchestra. He has also soloed with the Pennsylvania Symphonic Winds and has shared the stage with international tuba soloist Patrick Sheridan, The Boston Brass, the Chieftains and Elvis Costello.

Two energetic contemporary pieces on the program are Appalachian Overture by James Barnes and Masque by W. Francis McBeth. The Band’s performance of Washington Post March commemorates the 125th anniversary of the first public performance of John Phillip Sousa’s highly acclaimed march, written in 1889 to help promote an essay contest sponsored by the newspaper of the same name. One of Sousa’s most popular marches, this led to a British journalist dubbing Sousa “The March King.”

Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Jesters will be conducted by Assistant Director, Ryan Pongras. Ryan is an elementary band teacher in the Souderton School District, well known in the Souderton community. He will also conduct the beautifully moving Air for Band by Frank Erickson.

Rounding out the program are additional works including Scenes from the Louvre by Norman Dello Joio and Oregon, a fantasy piece depicting a train ride across the fascinating Oregon landscape, by Jacob de Haan.

This past March, the Band was honored to have been selected to play at the Association of Concerts Bands Convention in Allentown and the Pennsylvania Music Educators Conference in Hershey. Since its founding in 1995, the Band has performed over 200 concerts for community parks and retirement communities as well as a formal spring and fall concert each year. The Band is composed of 70 area musicians who volunteer their time and talent to bring high quality music performance to the community.

2015 promises to be an exciting year as it marks the Band’s 20th year of performance. Kicking off the celebration, the MCCB will sponsor a Community Band Festival on Sunday, February 22, featuring not only themselves, but also the Merion Concert Band and the Quakertown Band. Further information about the band and their schedule, as well as directions to Souderton Area High School located at 625 Lower Road, can be found at their website: www.montcoband.org. The concert is free and open to the public and the facility is handicap accessible. Free will donations will be accepted.