Published: November 24, 2009 09:20 am      

Merry melodies | River City Brass Band to present Christmas concert

By TOM LAVIS

TLAVIS@TRIBDEM.COM

Traditional and contemporary holiday tunes fill the program of River City Brass Band’s annual Christmas concert.

The Bells of Christmas production will be presented at 3 p.m. Dec. 6 at Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center in Richland Township.

The program is filled with festive favorites.

Drew Fennell, a longtime band member and associate conductor, developed the program and arranged many of the songs.

“The Christmas concert probably is the most difficult to program because you can’t leave out pieces that the audience expects, yet I wanted to incorporate music that will stretch the talent of our band members,” Fennell said. “I chose music I like and the audience will enjoy.

“The audience will be given a special present during this performance when all band members, except for the percussion section, go into the aisles of the arts center to perform ‘Alleluia.’

“The brass section will divide into a mellow choir on one side and a brilliant choir on the other,” Fennell said. “It will provide a contrast of sound as the musicians will be from 50 to 100 feet apart trying to keep it together, which will be interesting.”

In building the program, Fennell took into account the difficult times people now are facing.

He purposely chose several pieces written during World War II, another challenging era for Americans.

“It just seems appropriate to show people that some of the most beautiful music like ‘Alleluia’ was written in difficult times,” he said.

Other songs in that category are “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which was introduced by Judy Garland in 1944, and the 1945 release of “The Christmas Song.”

Leroy Anderson’s classical holiday composition “A Christmas Festival” has been a standard on the Christmas program each year.

“We have done it every year, and to me, it’s not Christmas until I have heard this,” Fennell said.

The baton will be handed to concertmaster and cornetist Bernard Black, who will step out of the orchestra to conduct “ ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” as Fennel narrates.

“I have wanted to narrate this for quite some time,” Fennell said. “Usually a dignitary will do the narration, but as a musician, I understand the importance of timing and how it sets the pace in a lyrical fashion, and adds a dramatic feel.”

A River City Brass Band concert would not be complete without a customary audience sing-along, and several will punctuate the program.

Beginning with “Joy to the World,” patrons can also lend voice to “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and “Hallelujah” from “The Messiah.”

Fennell said that, to the best of his recollection, the band will perform “Russian Christmas Music” for the first time in its entirety.

“Usually we drop about four minutes of music from the middle, but this season we are doing the entire 12 minutes,” he said.

The conductor is hopeful that parents and grandparents will bring some youngsters to the concert to enjoy a family outing.

“We get excited when we see people under 40 at our concerts,” Fennell said. “We would relish seeing a younger audience and encourage parents and grandparents to bring the youngsters out to enjoy a live musical performance.”

Tickets range from $21 to $23.

Tickets are available at the arts center box office, by calling (412) 292-7222 or by visiting www.rcbb.com on the Web.



Performance

Who: River City Brass Band.

What: The Bells of Christmas.

Where: Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center, 450 Schoolhouse Road, Richland Township.

When: 3 p.m. Dec. 6.

Tickets: At arts center box office, by calling (412) 292-7222 or by visiting www.rcbb.com.

Cost: $21 and $23.