On Wednesday, July 3, the Naperville Municipal Band played patriotic tunes at Central Park’s bandshell in Naperville. As the first Patriotic Concert held on the Ron Keller Memorial Stage, under the new direction of Emily Binder, the concert included old favorites and new surprises. Steve Lord, son of the late mistress of ceremonies Ann Lord, acted as the band’s emcee.
Crowd favorite songs fill Downtown Naperville’s Central Park
The band pulled patriotic favorites from their repertoire, including:
Americans We by Henry Fillmore
Chester (Hymn & Marching Song) by William Billings (setting by William Schuman)
1812 Overture by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (arr. Dan Godfrey)
National Spirit March by Silas Early Hummer (arr. Van B.Ragsdale)
God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood (arr. Abling)
A Touch of Cohan arr. Stan Applebaum
The Chimes of Liberty by Edwin Franko Goldman (arr. Loras J.Schissel)
God Bless America by Irving Berlin (arr. Ades)
Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Ward Howe & William Steffe (arr. Peter J.Wilhousky)
America the Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates & amp; Samuel A. Ward (arr. Carmen Dragon)
Armed Forces Salute arr. Ronald Keller (ed. William Jastrow)
The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa
What is the Naperville Municipal Band?
The Naperville Municipal Band (NMB) is a large group of dedicated volunteer musicians, who collaborate across many age groups and professional backgrounds to bring excellent big-band music to the community. Instruments represented in the band include; flute, piccolo, oboe, bassoon, E-flat clarinet, B-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, contra-bass clarinet, alto saxophone, bari saxophone, tenor saxophone, French horn, cornet, trumpet, trombone, euphonium, tuba, and percussion. Their summer concert series in Central Park is free to the public.
Check out more concerts and events in the Naperville Community.
