7:30 pm on February 15 & 16.  Nestico’s arrangements are popular with audiences around the world.   He is well known for his arrangements for the Count Basie Orchestra and the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Bands.  His work in the TV medium includes projects for Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand, and the scores for Mission: Impossible and Charlie’s Angels.  You may not know the name “Sammy Nestico,” but you already know his music. 

Nestico has generously donated most of the music to the MMB for this concert.  This came about as the result of his longtime friendship Charlie Almeida, a sax and clarinet player in the MMB.   Almeida will be featured on a beautiful alto sax ballad called Persuasion.  Additionally, our program will include Nestico’s  Spirit of Liberty March, Tribute to Stephen Foster, Los Valientes, Brassmen’s Holiday, Model “T” and Tribute to Harry James.

This concert will also feature my friend and mentor as a guest conductor, Dr. David Waybright, Director of Bands from the University of Florida.  He’ll be conducting Ralph Vaughan Williams’ English Folk Song Suite.  We’ll round out the program with Grainger’s Handel in the Strand (a very happy little piece) and we’ll add a dash of Sousa, just for good measure.

Come early at 6:30 p.m. and hear Charlie Almeida’s V.I.P. Orchestra play our pre-show entertainment.  This jazz combo will get your evening’s entertainment started nicely (and you may enjoy hearing my husband, David Cleveland, playing trumpet).

As always, admission to these concerts is free, and we gratefully accept your voluntary donations.  We value your patronage and support.  Spread the word to your friends and family.  We’d love to see them at the concerts, and you can contribute to helping our audience to grow.

We love to play for you!

Yours truly,

Staci Cleveland, Principal Conductor

An added note:  This is a busy time for the MMB and its affiliated groups. We hope you’ll mark your calendar for two upcoming events: First, a 7:30 pm “Sousa” concert by the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, conducted by Col. Hal Gibson. The venue will be the Indian River Colony Club in Viera on Jan. 29.

Your best chance this year to get into the mood for Valentine’s Day will be the Swingtime Jazz Band’s annual Sweetheart Ball. Come by the Melbourne Auditorium at 7:00 pm on Feb. 9 with your sweetie, prepared to dance to some of the best big band music in Brevard, under the direction of Art Martin.

Captain Winston Scott, USN, Ret. NASA photo

In case you were not aware of it, I am a serious space buff.  I love to read blogs and books about space, watch documentaries on the topic, look at the latest images from Cassini and Hubble and just keep up with current thought about what’s going on out there in our universe.  Our February concerts will celebrate human exploration of space.  What better way to do that than to have a guest speaker who is an astronaut/musician?

Captain Winston Scott, USN, Ret. flew missions on space shuttles Columbia and Endeavor.  He will be our guest speaker for the Melbourne Municipal Band concerts on the 16th and 17th of February at the Melbourne Auditorium.  Concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m.  Captain Scott will explain how he never would have made it to space if it were not for music.  More specifically, he would not have made it without being in band and playing the trumpet!  I’ll leave the rest to him, but you’ll have to come to a concert to hear his inspiring story and find out firsthand what it is like to go to space.

These concerts will feature a raffle as well.  Have you ever had dinner with an astronaut?  Captain Scott has been kind enough to offer one of our raffle winners dinner for 4 with him and his wife at the Eau Gallie Yacht Club.  You could bring your kids or grandkids to dinner with an astronaut!  Who knows what kind of influence that could have on their lives?  Another raffle prize will be 4 all inclusive 2 day passes to the Kennedy Space Center, plus a framed 40 x 24 inch print by space artist Robert McCall, donated by the Astronaut Memorial Foundation.  This prize is worth  $650.  Captain Scott will also provide autographed copies of his book, Reflections from Earth Orbit, and autographed NASA photos of himself for each prize package.  Raffle tickets may be purchased in advance of the concert from band members or at the concert in the lobby.  The tickets will be 1 for $3 or 2 for $5.  All proceeds from this fundraiser will help the band purchase new chairs, stands and carpet for our band room.

If that wasn’t enough excitement for one concert, we’ll hear from Senator Bill Nelson, feature the Sunshine Brass Quintet, hear a special song written and sung by band member Robin Krasny commemorating lives lost on the Challenger, and the band will play its newly purchased Suite from The Star Wars Epic. 

We hope you decide to join the Melbourne Municipal Band as we Journey to the Stars.

Staci Cleveland, Principal Conductor

American Portraits
September 29 and 30, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in the Melbourne Auditorium
This free concert will feature music by great American composers like Sousa, Fillmore and Bernstein. We’ll introduce a brand new version of The Star Spangled banner, arranged especially for the Melbourne Municipal Band by Fern Franz. Come early at 6:45 to enjoy pre-concert entertainment by Robin and Eddy and The Secrets.

Cartoons’ Greatest Hits
November 17 and 18, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in the Melbourne Auditorium
Many of us learned music like Overture to the Barber of Seville and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by watching cartoons like Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry. Come enjoy the MMB’s free concerts featuring music made famous in the cartoons. We’ve got Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Mendelssohn and music you had no idea that you already knew! Come early at 6:45 to enjoy some pre-concert cartoons as you wait for the show to get started.

Songs of the Season
December 14 and 15, 2010 at 7:30 in the Melbourne Auditorium
The MMB’s free gift to you is this brilliant holiday concert. We’ll start with the pre-concert show featuring the Oh Golly! Dixieland Jazz Band. We’ll have all your old favorites, and maybe you’ll add a few new favorites to your list. Bart Walters will be our special guest soloist for this concert as he joins us to perform Heiden’s Diversion for Alto Saxophone and Band. Stick around…you never know who else may show up to one of our holiday concerts!

Journey to the Stars
February 16 and 17, 2011 at 7:30 in the Melbourne Auditorium
This free concert will take you on quite a journey. We’ll be featuring the Sunshine Brass Quintet in both our pre-concert entertainment at 6:45 and again during the concert itself. The culmination of our musical journey will be John Williams’ Suite from Star Wars Epic. You’ll recognize music from throughout the Star Wars saga, including Duel of the Fates, Across the Stars, Imperial March, Princess Leia’s Theme and the Star Wars Main Theme.

Brevard’s Got Talent
April 20 and 21, 2011 at 7:30 in the Melbourne Auditorium
Brevard County is full of talented musicians. This concert will feature as many of them as we can squeeze onto one program! From our own band members and community groups to students from local schools, we really have a wealth of talent all around us. Come enjoy a free concert which may even feature someone you know personally. Pre-concert entertainment, starting around 6:45 p.m., will consist of performances by student musicians.

American Jazz
A Not-in-the-Park Picnic Concert
June 15 and 16, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.in the Melbourne Auditorium
America is the birthplace of Jazz, and this free concert celebrates that fact with swing, bop, and concert music by composers like George Gershwin and Sammy Nestico who used jazz to great effect in their compositions. Bring your picnic dinner and enjoy a meal with your friends while you listen to the band play the music of Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. Pre-concert entertainment is a jazz combo, which will start at 5:45 p.m.

Guest Conductor Concert
A Not-in-the-Park Picnic Concert
Dates TBA….August 2011 at 6:30 p.m. in the Melbourne Auditorium
Come join us for a free picnic concert. Tables will be set up for your dining enjoyment and we’ll provide the entertainment. Program content to be announced.

When I began planning the August concerts, I took a survey of the band members, asking them to share with me the pieces they would most like to play on a concert.  I was inundated with so many suggestions that I decided to dedicate the entire concert to their requests.  There will certainly be a little something for everyone on this concert.  From the music of the movie King Kong to classical favorites like Debussy’s Clair de Lune and Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, this will be an evening of variety and entertainment.  Before the main event even begins, my good friends Gosia and Ali will be providing pre-concert music.  They are popular musicians in Gainesville, Florida, and their services are always in high demand.  They play an amazing variety of music from pop to jazz.  We are so lucky to have them playing for us two nights in a row!

I hope to see you all there with a table of your friends, enjoying the food and the music.  Where else in Brevard County can you get such an incredible evening of fun for FREE?  The MMB has been providing that to the citizens of Brevard for almost 45 years now.  Come join us.

ANYTHING GOES!

Hello all!  I am extremely excited and honored to be participating in the Melbourne Municipal Band’s Conductor Search.  When asked if I would conduct a program with the ensemble, I immediately jumped at the bit.  I have had a chance to work with the gifted musicians of the MMB over the last month and it has been an absolute pleasure putting this exciting program together with them.

So, why a Sousa Style Concert?  When I was asked to select a theme for this program, I thought this particular style of concert would showcase the musicians of the band.  In addition, it gives both myself and the band a chance to perform a variety of works that include light classics, solo pieces, important 20th Century works, contemporary pieces being written today, and of course, marches.

The music for this program is quite challenging!  The MMB will perform Dmitri Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Jacques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, William Schuman’s New England Triptych, Leondard Bernstein’s Candide, music from Fiddler on the Roof, and music from one of my favorite wind band composers, Frank Ticheli.  In addition, the concert will feature two extremely talented soloists, Philip Vu and David Ewing.  David Ewing has been a great friend of mine for many years and it’s a great honor to share the stage with him.  Lastly, each work will be followed with an encore taken from Sousa’s march catalog.
 
I know you will enjoy the band’s performances on April 21st and 22nd!  Every rehearsal is a treat and the musicality of this ensemble is at such a high level.  I would like to thank all of the members of the band who embraced me with open arms, the Board of Directors, and the hard working volunteers.  Melbourne is lucky to have a cultural gem like the Melbourne Municipal Band.
 
I look forward to seeing you all,
Aaron Collins

A Sousa Style Concert Flyer

Thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy the Celtic Concerts last week.  We had a great audience both nights, and I enjoyed meeting many of you.  Those of you who came to the Tuesday show will be interested to know that I managed to keep my shoes on for the entire concert on Wednesday night, but it wasn’t easy.  I think hitting my 40th birthday has done something strange to my feet.  They are no longer cooperating with my desire to wear beautiful heels!   But the music was fun, and the band really enjoyed presenting these concerts for the community. 

Thanks again to “Kindred Spirits” for their performance, and also to David Spurlock, our guest performer on bagpipes.  And thank you once again to all the musicians and volunteers who contribute their time and effort to make these concerts happen.  It couldn’t be done without all of you.  As usual, it was my pleasure to have the opportunity to make music with the MMB.

Keep an eye on our calendar page (http://melbournemunicipalband.org/category/events/) for upcoming events.