Cottonwood AZ (April 27, 2015) – Come hear the Cottonwood Community Band when it presents a free concert for all ages on Sunday, May 10 at 3 PM in the Camp Verde Multi-Use Theater, 210 Camp Lincoln Rd. in Camp Verde. Headlining the concert is a performance by trumpet soloist and Cottonwood resident, Carl Rowe.
Rowe was principal trumpet with United States Marine Band “The President’s Own” for nineteen of his twenty-two years with that organization. He has been a member of the Brass Band of Battle Creek, the New Sousa Band, and the Washington Symphonic Brass, and has performed with the Jack Daniels Silver Cornet Band, National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Baltimore Opera, and the Harrisburg Symphony. He continues to be in demand as a soloist throughout the United States. Rowe and his wife Grayce O’Neill Rowe, an Episcopal Priest, moved to Cottonwood in 2013. Rowe will perform “Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms” from Donald Hunsberger’s arrangement of Two Irish Folk Melodies and Herbert L. Clark’s ever-popular “Variations on Carnival of Venice” with the band.
This is the first time the band will be performing at the Camp Verde Multi-Use Theater and its second appearance in Camp Verde during the past two years. Publicity Chairman, Sy Brandon, states, “We are excited to bring the band to east side of the Verde Valley and we hope to continue to schedule concerts there in the future.”
The concert begins with George Gershwin’s Strike Up the Band to get off to a rousing start. The featured work at the concert will be Gustav Holst’s First Suite in E Flat for Military Band. This classic three-movement composition begins with a lyrical Chaconne, moves to a spritely Intermezzo, and has a March as its final movement.
The concert also contains music from Broadway and the movies. Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story and Mikis Theodorakis’ Zorba the Greek, will have the audience humming along with familiar tunes. There are even rumors that Elvis will make an appearance as the band will play Elvis: The Legend Lives On.
In the Spring of 1990 the Cottonwood Community Band, started by Madison Meyers, consisted of eight members and in January of 2001 was incorporated as a non-profit organization. The current band, under the direction of Will Norris, consists of instrumentalists from the Verde Valley and Sedona. Two members of the band, Janet Chambers and Ron Wright, are Camp Verde residents. The members range in age from high school students to retirees. This spring, the band has grown to over 40 members enabling a more balanced instrumentation and fuller sound.
The Cottonwood Community Band is always looking for new members to enhance our band. If you are interested in joining the band, please attend a rehearsal on Monday evenings from 7-9 PM at the Cottonwood Middle School Band Room 301. Visit the Cottonwood Community Band on the web at cottonwoodcommunityband.org or email the band at cottonwoodcommunityband@gmail.com for more information.