Packard Band showcases its musicians at anniversary concert
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WHAT: W.D. Packard Concert Band 71st Anniversary Concert with Galen S. Karriker, conductor, and Michael Barkett, trumpet
WHEN: 3 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave NW, Warren
HOW MUCH: Admission is free, and funding is provided by the W.D. Packard trust.
Over the last 70 years, many guest soloists have performed with the W.D. Packard Band.
For its 71st anniversary concert on Sunday at Packard Music Hall, that solo spotlight will be turned on the band's musician.
"We have a lot of fine musicians, and we wanted to feature them," said Thomas A. Groth, executive director of the band.
In a performance conducted by Galen S. Karriker, seven selections will include solos by individuals or different sections of the band.
Vic Firth's "Encore in Jazz" will feature the percussion ensemble -- Ken Alexander, Carla Dean, Joshua Haggerty, Thomas Ruggieri, Robert Barnett, Tyler Husosky and Dylan Kollat. Trombonist Leslie Core solos on Jarod Cooper's "Love Eternal" and trumpet player Tim Winfield plays on Kevin McKee's "Centennial Horizon."
A trumpet trio with Terry Gale, Frank Cosenza and Christine Wise will do Don Jacoby's "Carnival Variations." Tim Harker is the alto saxophone soloist on "Stella by Starlight," Al Colella plays the clarinet solo on a George Gershwin medley, and Daniel Carioti is featured on Erroll Garner's "Misty."
"I let the soloists pick the things that they wanted to do," Groth said. "We worked together on it, obviously, but ultimately it’s solos that they feel comfortable playing, and they wanted to do. In the case of Leslie Core, I heard this beautiful solo played with a brass band. I just came across it on YouTube, and I had never heard it before, and it was a gorgeous solo. So I asked Leslie to listen to it, and would you like to play this? (And she said) 'Yes, of course.'"
Joining the band on Sunday will be Michael Barkett, who will play trumpet fanfares while standing in the back of the auditorium.
The fanfares include Gottfried Reiche's "Abbsalen," John Williams' "Summon the Heroes," Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" and Gershwin's "American in Paris."
"It's just something new, giving our audiences something different and hoping that they will like it," Groth said.
Barkett has some history with the Packard band. The Canfield native is a past winner in the band's Robert E. Fleming Concerto Competition. He earned his bachelor's degree from Dana School of Music and master's degree in performance at Michigan State University, and he has traveled the world as a member of the U.S. Navy's bands. He currently is an adjunct professor of trumpet at Westminster College.
The concert will conclude with the "Salute to Packard" march, written by Roy M. Miller, one of the early conductors of the band, and "A Vision and a Dream," a fanfare commissioned in 2008 by the Packard Band from Ryan Nowlin.
"At the time he composed that, he was a band director in Ohio," Groth said. "Now he’s conductor of "The President’s Own" United States Marine Band. He has risen in the music ranks very, very quickly."
The anniversary concert is one of two upcoming performances by the Packard Band. The Big Band Sound of Packard will play its annual Sweetest Day Dance from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 15. Singing big band standards with the band will be vocalist Tania Grubbs. Admission to both events is free with funding provided by the W.D. Packard trust.