Published: September 27, 2009 11:08 pm      

Air Force band performing at Mountain Ridge High

Concert features works of European composers

FROSTBURG — This year’s fall concert band tour program by the U.S. Air Force Heritage of America Band, “Souvenirs From Europe,” will be presented Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Mountain Ridge High School gym.

The free concert is sponsored by the Times-News and the school. Tickets are required to get the best seats when doors open at 6 p.m. Walk-ins will be admitted at 6:45 p.m.

Requests are limited to four tickets and can be mailed to Cumberland Times-News, Attn: Tickets, P.O. Box 897, Cumberland, MD 21501-0897. Tickets are also available at the newspaper office, 19 Baltimore St.

The concert program contains selections of works by popular European composers from the past two centuries. Some of these selections represent special memories for Air Force band members who have been stationed in Europe during their career.

Tuba player Master Sgt. Steve Ecklund recalls band appearances at the Gevant Haus in Leipzig, Germany, and the Royal Albert Hall in London, where audiences were moved to their feet with loud cheers after hearing performances of traditional American big band music by Glen Miller. “The audiences loved hearing the Glen Miller music,” he said. “They seemed to enjoy everything we performed, but when we played the Glen Miller tunes, the crowds went wild.”

Deputy Commander 2nd Lt. Rafael Toro-Quinones remembers the gratitude of the people of Luxemburg after one particular performance. “In Luxemburg, the townspeople literally thanked us for saving their country from destruction during the second world war. They walked right up to us and said thank you for saving our country. It was amazing, absolutely amazing.”

The band will feature two soloists on this year’s fall tour. Vocalist Staff Sgt. Natalie Madison will perform selections from the Broadway show “Les Miserable” and also a medley of tunes by jazz vocalists of the 1930s and ’40s, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn. Trumpeter Staff Sgt. Mark Nixon will perform “Napoli,” a fiery cornet feature of the late 1800s first arranged for concert band by the John Philip Sousa Band cornetist Herman Bellstedt.