Free Press – February 22, 2007

Quakertown Band Concert March 4^th, 2007

Dear Friends,

Good morning. Before I get to my main topic, the Quakertown Band Concert on Sunday, March 4 at 2 PM, I have some news about my favorite musician. Henrietta Jahnsen, who turned 90 last year, has moved to the Rockhill Mennonite Community. For nearly 40 years, she introduced the joys of singing to thousands in the Quakertown schools. Henrietta was so enthusiastic…it was fun being in her presence. And though we were too young and foolish to understand it, we were learning a lifetime appreciation, or even a skill.

Henrietta’s new address is Rockhill Mennonite Community, Room 555, 3250 State Rd., Sellersville, PA 18960-1699. Her phone number is 215-257-1444 and she looks forward to hearing from her friends and students. By the way, her home on Lehigh Drive in Quakertown is for sale. For more information, call Nancy Wark at 215-536-5788.

And now to business.

Get ready for some toe tapping. “Look Both Ways,” is the theme of the Quakertown Band’s 130^th Anniversary Concert on Sunday, March 4. Check out their web page: http://home.comcast.net/~beckytusz/qband/schedule.html. I had a nice chat with Maynard Cressman who’s been a stalwart with the band for decades. Maynard began playing solos with the band when he was still in Quakertown high school in 1957.

I remember that time well because I graduated from Penn that year. Maynard kidded me about singing. He knew that the only way that I got into the Quakertown Band was through singing, not playing trombone. Our conductor at the time was Ralph Moyer, Sr., the first proprietor of Moyer’s Shoes in Quakertown. Ralph was the conductor from 1951 to 1968.

For variety, his concerts included vocal solos plus chorus numbers. He needed a tenor to round out his vocal men’s quartet. “The Happy Wanderer” was a hit song in 1957 and Ralph transcribed it for the band. I told him that I’d sing if he’d let me play my grandfather’s trombone. After an agonizing delay, he reluctantly agreed. I played fourth or fifth trombone and chimed in with an occasional note or two…always softly, so I wouldn’t disturb the audience (or the conductor).

Maynard will be playing trumpet in spite of nursing a brand new hip. He’s the band’s President, now in his seventh year. In spite of the surgery, Maynard’s only missed one rehearsal! He told me that he and Richard Karschner, the band’s current conductor, were looking through old band arrangements from the 1950’s. They spotted Ralph Moyer’s arrangement of “Chunka,” a very popular instrumental featuring three solo trumpets.

Maynard was one of the soloists who performed it at the February 1959 concert. The other trumpeters were Ralph Hillegass and Bob Gilkeson. My, how those three could play! Maynard is celebrating his 50^th year with the band. It will be grand to hear him play something from memory’s lane.

“We found the conductor’s score [for “Chunka”],” Maynard continued, “but the individual [instrument] parts were missing.” Ralph’s nephew, Kenneth Moyer, is a nationally known composer and musician. Ken has many connections to Quakertown and its historic band. “It was Ken who took the conductor’s score and wrote out the parts for the band,” Maynard said. Incidentally, Ken Moyer’s arrangement, “Sophisticated Ellington,” will be featured on this year’s program.

Maynard reminded me that Ralph Moyer transcribed “Streets of Laredo” and “Stranger in Paradise” which I sang for those concerts 50 years ago. For that effort, I was demoted to sixth trombone…and played even less!

Karschner shared his notes for the upcoming concert. The theme, “Look Both Ways,” highlights the works written by Quakertown Band conductors from the past as well as the present.

Howard Shive became the band’s seventh conductor in 1925 and led it though the Great Depression for 28 years. “Shive wrote several compositions for groups in the Bucks and Montgomery County area,” the program notes began. Conductor Emeritus Joseph Blewett, who succeeded Ralph Moyer in 1968, will direct Shive’s “North Penn March”.

Keith Spencer returns as a vocal soloist. Karschner reminds the audience that Spencer has pursued his career in stage, cabaret, and concert with performances ranging from Philadelphia’s Prince Theater to the Broadway tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Music of the Night.” Spencer appeared recently at the Sellersville Theater.

The 13^th and current conductor of the band is Richard Karschner whose arrangement of “Assurances” will be performed at this concert. “Assurances” was inspired by the life of former band member Gary Martin. It is dedicated to the memory of departed members of the Quakertown Band.

Karschner concluded his program notes with these thoughts: “A glimpse into the future is provided by a new composition from the pen of Aric Branchfield, who teaches music in the Central Bucks School district.

“His “T-minus Ten” was performed by the Quakertown band last year. The band received funding for the commission from the 5-County Arts Fund which provides local grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts,” Karchner’s notes concluded. We’ll here Branchfield’s “The Winds of Nantucket.”

The band has been rehearsing this concert for several months. Unfortunately, patrons have only one chance to hear it. And that’s Sunday, March 4 at 2 PM.

The concert is free. The band deserves to see a packed concert hall.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith

Concert Schedule:

Sunday, March 4, 2007 2:00 pm
(note new time!)

Strayer Middle School Auditorium
Ronald Reagan Drive, Quakertown
Admission Free