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Metropolitan Wind Symphony Band Concert: Enduring the Winter

Metropolitan Wind Symphony Band Concert: Enduring the Winter

The Metropolitan Wind Symphony will continue their 44th season with their Winter Band Concert on Sunday, March 1, 2015 at 3:00 pm, at the National Heritage Museum, 33 Marrett Road, Lexington, MA, a new location for us this season while Cary Hall in Lexington is being renovated. MWS Music director Lewis J. Buckley will conduct the program. Featured will be Fairest of the Fair by John Philip Sousa, Sinfonietta by Ingolf Dahl, the New England premier of Concerto for Trombone by James Beckel with trombone soloist Mark Weaver, Bright-Colored Dances by Lewis Buckley, Endurance by Timothy Mahr, and Irish Suite by Leroy Anderson. Mr. Buckley will deliver a pre-concert lecture at 2:30 pm.  
 
Ingolf Dahl’s landmark Sinfonietta is one of the finest works ever written for the wind band. It is one of Conductor Lewis Buckley’s favorite pieces, dating back to his student days in the Eastman Wind Ensemble. Bright Colored Dances, Buckley's own composition which he first performed with MWS in his audition concert in 2006, reflects the motion and color he often senses when composing. Jim Beckel’s new Concerto is a piece MWS helped commission, and we welcome longtime Coast Guard Band Principal Trombonist Mark Weaver as our soloist. Endurance, the theme piece of this program, observes the 100th anniversary of the famous Ernest Shackleton Antarctica voyages of 1914-16. “Endurance, both the name of Shackleton’s ship and an apt descriptor of his incredible experience, is a truly amazing story of the indomitable human spirit."  
 
Trombonist Mark E. Weaver received his formal music education at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Bloomington, Indiana, and at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. Weaver was principal trombonist of the United States Coast Guard Band from 1980 until his retirement in 2009 after almost 29 years of performing across the nation, and around the world. Currently Weaver is a member of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, and in recent years has performed with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Hartford Symphony, the Waterbury Symphony and the Bridgeport Symphony, the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, the Chorus of Westerly, Connecticut Lyric Opera, and the Salt Marsh Opera Company. Weaver also performs frequently with the New Haven Symphony, and New York's Canterbury Choral Society.  
 
Lewis Buckley earned his undergraduate degree from the Eastman School of Music and his Master’s degree from Connecticut College. In 1975, he became the Coast Guard Band’s fifth director at age 27 and held that post for 29 years. He continues to compose, arrange, and publish music. He also remains an active trumpet soloist, frequently combining solo appearances with conducting, often in premiere performances of his own commissioned works. Buckley has a diverse background, having conducted bands, orchestras, and choruses in all styles of music from classical to commercial to jazz.  
 
Tickets are $18 for adults, $14 for seniors, $6 for students, and are free for children under 5. They are available at the door or can be reserved by telephone. Call the MWS Concert Line at (978) 419-1697 to reserve or purchase tickets. Visit the MWS web page at http://www.mws-boston.org for information and directions. Email mws@mws-boston.org with any questions.  
 
Founded by Jerry Gardner in 1971, the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, a concert band, is currently celebrating its 44th anniversary. The MWS comprises over 70 talented woodwind, brass, and percussion instrumentalists who audition for membership and seating. It makes a significant contribution to the cultural life of the Greater Boston community by providing its audiences with high quality concerts and its members with opportunities for musical growth.  
 
This and other concerts by the MWS are funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.  

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