DBQ's Tri-State Wind Symphony Kicks Off Its 13th Season

Thursday nite (31 May 2007) at 7:30 pm the Tri-State Wind Symphony kicked off its 13th season with a performance in the band shell at Eagle Point Park in DBQ. It also debuted its new sign at the top of the band shell courtesy of a grant by the DBQ Racing Association. The Symphony is under the direction of Brian Hughes who founded it in 1995.

After starting off, as they always do, with the National Anthem they went into Esprit de Corps by Robert Jager. The piece was commissioned for the US Marine Band in Washington DC. The next work performed (the oldest on the program) was the Apotheosis from Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale. This was followed by the newest piece (1995), Jessie's Well by Ralph Hultgren. This was followed by Gustav Holst's Suite in E-flat for Military Band, Op. 28a. The next piece featured an excellently done solo by Daniel Norman. It was Leroy Anderson's A Trumpeter’s Lullaby. Unfortunately, at this point the weather decided to stop cooperating & some sprinklings of rain came down. So, they went into the final piece, Semper Fidelis by John Philip Sousa.

As always, throughout the program Brian Hughes sprinkled his inimitable comments about the various pieces performed. Some are about the piece & its history, others are there to help develop a better appreciation of the piece or music in general. Another tradition is the passing of the hat by Brian's "precocious" daughter Caitlyn. As Brian likes to remind us, the symphony is a 501(c)3 non-profit orginization & no donation is "TOO LARGE".

For each performance they have 2 rehearsals & the exact number of members is somewhat fluid from week to week. Some members are professional (music teachers, school band directors), others are students & adults from the DBQ area who appreciate the opportunity to perform. Yet, to listen to a performance you would think they put in many more hours of rehearsal than they do. The reason they sound so good is that all of the members are commited to doing their best. Brian's commitment to making it an enjoyable experience for the members as well as the audience is another large part of why this is so.

This performance was no exception. Since I am not an expert, & not familiar with most of the pieces performed last Thurs, I can't tell you if any mistakes were made. All I know is that I enjoyed the entire performance. As did the others in the audience.

This brings me to another thing about the Symphony that I appreciate, the ongoing introduction of new pieces to me. Sometimes they are by a composer that I am unfamiliar with, other times they are pieces by a familiar composer that are new to me. & at other times there are classics that I am very familiar with. Their repertoire ranges from classical music to pop, opera to musicals & a lot in between.

Their next performance will be this Sunday nite (3 June) at 6:00 pm at the DBQ Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at Marshall Park. This performance is a part of the Arboretum's Music in the Gardens Concert series. They will be performing the same pieces (hopefully including the 2 pieces that were rained out) they did on Thurs.

The Symphony is 1 of DBQ's underappreciated jewels, the Aboretum is another. If you are in the DBQ area this Sunday & are free at 6 pm, check them out. Otherwise, they will have 4 more bi-weekly performances at Eagle Point Park. On their non-performance weeks there will be other groups performing at Eagle Point. All Eagle Point performances are Thursdays at 7:30 pm. The Arboretum has a Sunday night at 6 series as well as performances on different days & times. Check out the Symphony's & the Arboretum's websites for the complete Summer concert schedules. I guarentee you there will be something that will appeal to you.