Bemidji Area Community Band to pay tribute to Sousa and Glenn Miller

Jul. 17—BEMIDJI — The Bemidji Area Community Band will play commemoration pieces from John Philip Sousa and Glenn Miller at its third concert of the summer on Sunday, July 21.

The concert, conducted by Scott Guidry, will begin at 7 p.m. on the lawn south of Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex on the campus of Bemidji State University. In case of inclement weather, it will be moved indoors at Bangsberg. There is no charge for the concert, but free-will donations will be accepted.

The band will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Sousa's "Black Horse Troop March." It came from the composer's love for horses and was dedicated to the mounted troops of a Cleveland National Guard unit. Their exclusive use of black horses was the inspiration for the title.

A medley of Glenn Miller tunes, including "Moonlight Serenade" and "In the Mood," will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the band leader's tragic death.

Miller had traded in his commercial success as a big band leader for a military uniform to entertain U.S. troops during World War II. His plane was en route to the European mainland when it went down over the English Channel in December 1944. His body was never found, and he was declared dead one year later.

Miller's story is special to Guidry, who served in the Air Force Band before retiring and joining the music faculty at BSU.

"We would play in these little towns and villages all through Europe, and we would always end with 'In the Mood' by Glenn Miller," Guidry said. "Everybody would go bananas. They remembered him."

The BACB also will play a medley of songs from the play "Pirates of Penzance," which just happens to be the final production of the season at Bemidji's Paul Bunyan Playhouse. Also on the program is a Scott Joplin retrospective, "March of 10,000 Lakes" (written by the USAF Band commemorating their visit here in April), and "Children's March" by Percy Grainger.

The band's final concert of the summer is scheduled for Aug. 3.