Alumni Band Weekend Concert all set

Utah State University’s Alumni Band is featured in concert during the long Pioneer Day weekend, July 25 at 7 p.m. in the Kent Concert Hall of the Chase Fine Arts Center. The concert is free and all are invited.

In a nod to Utah’s heritage, the program includes “Fantasy on Come, Come Ye Saints,” by Utah State music department faculty member Dennis Griffin. This original work was composed several years ago and has become a traditional part of the Pioneer Day concert.

The program also includes an appearance by Bonnie Slade, a former music department faculty member and founder of the Cache Children’s Choir. She has just returned from a two-year absence while serving an LDS mission. Slade is the featured soloist in selections from “The Sound of Music.”

Former music department faculty continue in the spotlight, this time as guest conductor, when Glen Fifield takes the podium to conduct the “U.S. Army March” by Darcy. Fifield is the former professor of trumpet, as well as music education, in the department. He has been a leader in the Alumni Band since its inception.

Filling the conducting responsibilities for the remainder of the concert are Thomas P. Rohrer, director of bands at Utah State, and Nicholas Morrison, associate director of bands and director of the Alumni Band.

The program offers the band’s usual selection of marches, patriotic numbers, traditional band music and selections from popular entertainment. Gershwin’s “Strike Up the Band” opens the concert, and an arrangement of “The Star Spangled Banner” is also included. The familiar strains of “Shenandoah” are presented in an arrangement by Ticheli, and the world of musical theater is brought to life with the overture from “Brigadoon.”

The Utah State University Alumni Band is comprised of graduates and friends of Utah State. Following the July 25 outing, one concert remains on the summer schedule for Aug. 1