Under the direction of Kristen Brown, The Princeton High School Symphonic Band will take the stage for the first half of the concert. The band will open with James Swearingen’s arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The group will also perform Shelley Hanson’s “Albanian Dance,” Percy Aldridge Grainger’s “Irish Tune from County Derry” and John Mackey’s “Foundry.”
Under the direction of Brandenburg and Dan Nichols, associate conductor, the SOSB will end its 48th concert season as they showcase their talents during the second half of the program. The band will perform a number of selections, including “Folk Songs From Somerset” and “My Bonny Boy” from English Folk Song Suite by Ralph Vaughn Williams.
Nicholas Dadabo will lead the band in Julie Giroux’s “Italian Rhapsody.” Dadabo, an SOSB tuba player, is a graduate of Fairfield High School. He studied music education, performance, conducting and composition at Miami University in Oxford and at Northern Kentucky University. Dadabo has performed in Carnegie Hall in New York City under the direction of H. Robert Reynolds.
Sam Reynolds, current euphonium player in the SOSB band and past guest conductor, will make a rare appearance in the new Matthews Auditorium to lead the band in “Princeton Variations” composed by David Schaeffer in 1985.
“Sam Reynolds was my high school band director when I went to Princeton High School 50 years ago. I just celebrated my 50th high school reunion last summer. Mr. Reynolds was the band director at Princeton for 30 years,” Brandenburg said.
After retiring from Princeton City Schools in 1990, Mr. Reynolds taught at Miami University in Oxford for 20 years. He has been inducted into the Princeton High School Hall of Fame and received the Princeton Education Foundation Distinguished Emeritus Award, and more.
Other concert highlights will include Samuel De Jesus Garcia’s arrangement of “Prelude C# Minor for Band” and Warren Barker’s arrangement of “New York: 1927.” Samuel is a graduate of Hamilton High School and a current student at Miami University.
Both bands will come together to conclude the concert with John Phillip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”
“It’s a good experience for the high school students to sit next to our folks, who are older and have performed longer on their instruments. It gives the students a different perspective, and we encourage them to keep playing their instruments throughout their lives. It’s a pretty inspirational concert,” Brandenburg said.
Contact this contributing writer at gmwriteon@aol.com.
How to go
What: Spring concert featuring The Southwestern Ohio Symphonic Band and Princeton High School Symphonic Band
When: 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 30
Where: Matthews Auditorium at Princeton High School, 100 Viking Way, Sharonville
Cost: Free
More info: www.sosband.org
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