BC and Community Band to hold President’s Day concert

The Brazosport College Department of Music will present a President’s Day concert featuring the College and Community Band at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, February 15. The band will be under the direction of Richard Birk.

The performance is free and will be held in The Clarion at Brazosport College at 500 College Drive, Lake Jackson.

“Our program will include patriotic marches, a musical depiction of Mount Rushmore and a recitation of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address within Barry Kopetz’s tone poem, 'Lincoln at Gettysburg,’” Birk said. “Additionally, we will recognize one of America’s greatest singers with ‘Salute to Ol’ Blue Eyes’ and include Leonard Bernstein’s ‘America’ from ‘West Side Story.’ I hope the community will come join us as we celebrate President’s Day with a variety of great American music.”

Selections scheduled to be performed on February 15 include:

“Our Own Red, White and Blue” — a march written by Henry Fillmore in 1917 as a fund-raising effort for the Red Cross and its efforts during World War I.

“American Visions” — a modern setting of “America,” written by Travis Weller as a tribute to his father, a veteran of the Vietnam War.

“Rushmore” — a musical depiction of the grandeur of Mount Rushmore and its magnificent granite sculptures of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

“Lincoln at Gettysburg” — a tone poem by Barry Kopetz that highlights Lincoln’s deeply moving Gettysburg Address, first delivered by our 16th president at the historic Civil War battleground in Pennsylvania.

“Salute to Ol’ Blue Eyes” — a medley of favorites celebrating the Sinatra centennial, including “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Stranger in the Night,” “That’s Life” and “The Lady is a Tramp.”

“America” — Leonard Bernstein’s infectious rhythmic classic from “West Side Story.”

“March America” — a toe-tapping pairing of “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” and “America the Beautiful” in a rousing flag-waver march.

For more information about the February 15 President’s Day concert, call (979) 230-3658.