DuPage Community Concert Band presents
Fresh Perspectives

Director Mark A. Taylor
Program:
Fanfare for a New Era by PINKZEBRA
Hope by Stijn Aertgeerts
Mayflower Overture by Ron Nelson
Konzertstück No. 1, Op. 113, by Felix Mendelssohn
Featuring Jordan Sheren and Danielle Knapp, clarinet
March: “The Gridiron Club” by J. P. Sousa
The Lion King Soundtrack Highlights, by Elton John and Hans Zimmer, arr. Custer

It’s always refreshing to get a different view on things. The DuPage Community Concert Band embraces this philosophy in their end-of-Winter program, entitled “Fresh Perspectives.”

The program opens with a sparkling and vibrant new work for wind band, “Fanfare for a New Era.” The composer, known only as PINKZEBRA, chooses to write under this pen name, so we know almost nothing about their life, but the music is exciting and bold. Young Belgian composer Stijn Aertgeerts has written “Hope,” an achingly beautiful tribute to a perspective we all need more of in the world. Ron Nelson composed a multitude of works for the wind band over his long and storied career; “Mayflower Overture,” written in 1958, was his first foray into the genre.

Of Mendelssohn’s two Concertpiece (or Konzertstück in German) compositions for clarinet duet, the second is widely performed while the first is relatively unknown. The band corrects that oversight as they feature two of the band’s newer members of the clarinet section, Jordan Sheren and Danielle Knapp. Another rarity on the program is Sousa’s infrequently heard march, “The Gridiron Club,” written to salute one of the oldest and most prestigious organizations for journalists in Washington, D.C.

DuPage Community Concert Band exists to embrace and express all of the beauty and glory we can share through playing great music. Concerts feature entertaining music for audiences, as well as stimulating the performer that is consistent with the representation and growth of the college and community band.

Rehearsal for the DuPage Community Concert Band are Monday nights, 7 to 9:30 p.m., Room 138 -McAninch Arts Center. Membership is open to high school graduates with windwood, brass or percussion experience or to anyone who is otherwise qualified musically to register.

About the Director: Mark A. Taylor is a conductor, educator, and performer in demand throughout the Great Lakes region, Dr. Taylor has taught with distinction at every level of study, ranging from elementary, middle, and high school to collegiate, amateur, and professional musicians. He is Music Director of Milwaukee Festival Brass, an award winning British-style brass band, and Music Director of the Waukegan Band, one of America’s oldest and most historic civic ensembles. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 2016 from the University of North Texas. Prior to his doctoral study, he served five years as Director of Bands and Coordinator of Ensembles at Loyola University Chicago, and member of music education faculty at Roosevelt University. Dr. Taylor received the Master of Music degree from Northwestern University. He received his undergraduate degrees from the University of Notre Dame and also performed in the Concert Band, Orchestra, Liturgical Choir, Men’s Glee Club, and Collegium Musicum. Dr. Taylor performs as section percussionist with the internationally award-winning Chicago Brass Band. He and his wife and son reside in Lake Forest, IL.