Municipal band celebrates 80 years

The Washington Municipal Band is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year.

?We?re octogenarians now!? exclaimed band director Tom McNamar.

To celebrate the anniversary milestone, musicians with Washington roots are being invited to perform for their hometown fans. The band will feature guest conductors, instrumentalists and vocal soloists throughout its 10-week season, which begins Thursday.

June 7 ? The municipal band?s debut performance of 2012 will feature all of the former conductors who are still living, who are Gary McCurdy, Norman Brooks, Bob McConnell and the current conductor, McNamar. The four men have collectively conducted the band for four decades, half the band?s lifespan, and each one will direct a piece or two this evening.

June 14 ? McCurdy is not only a former conductor but is also a long-time tuba player, and this week ?The Tubador? will share his talents as a soloist. He is the only person who will be honored twice this year.  

June 21 ? Ed Raber, another familiar face in the municipal band, will perform on bagpipes. McNamar said Raber has been an asset to the band both on and off the stage. Raber has helped the band secure funding to pay for expenses such as the transportation costs incurred by visiting musicians.  

June 28 ? This concert is dubbed the ?Liberty Concert? and will feature patriotic songs such as ?Battle Hymn of the Republic.? The all-female singing group ?Just Us Girls? will perform as well. A regular performer at ?Thursday Night Live? events, Just Us Girls will perform with the band for the first time in its history.

July 5 ? A jazz ensemble consisting of Washington natives Chris Merz, Randy Swift and Jim Shields will perform this week. Merz teaches saxophone at the University of Northern Iowa where he is also the director of the jazz band. Swift teaches guitar lessons in town and Shields is a drummer who just moved back to the area. All three men graduated from Washington High School in 1982 and had McCurdy as a band instructor in their youth.

July 12 ? McNamar called this the ?Cowboy Concert? because it will be western-themed. Washington Community Theatre is putting on ?The Music Man? at that same time, and the cast will perform selections from the musical with the band this evening. McNamar said the band often performs show tunes but never with a large group of singers. He said he is looking forward to the ?cross cultural? exchange.

July 19 ? The municipal band will not perform this week because it is the week of the Washington County Fair.

July 26 ? The last concert in July has been named ?Xylophobia? because it will feature the percussion group of Virginia Bordwell, Dr. David Johnson and Tracy Madsen. Bordwell has played percussion in the band since 1985.

Aug. 2 ? Washington native Heather Youngquist will sing at the band?s first performance in August. Youngquist also sang at the band?s 75th anniversary celebration. Youngquist was an All-State singer in high school.

Aug. 9 ? No special guests are scheduled so far for the band?s last concert of the year. McNamar said this date was left open in the event that an earlier act had to reschedule to a later date. If all the guests perform as scheduled, McNamar said he will perform on saxophone in a jazz quartet with Merz, Swift and Shields.  

The band has had two rehearsals thus far and McNamar said he?s never seen so many people interested in playing. The band normally has 50 to 55 performers, a number that can dip into the 30s during periods of summer vacation. McNamar was shocked to count 62 heads at the band?s most recent rehearsal, which he said is the largest band he?s had by far.

McNamar said that he is always pleased with the size of the audience that turns out for band concerts.

?We have a loyal audience, and that is the difference between small-town Iowa and big-city Iowa,? he said. ?That is why we do what we do. Our people play because our audience is so fantastic.?