2022 Young People's Concerts Announced
The Allentown Band presents its annual Youth Concerts on Wednesday November 16, 2022 at Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown, Pennsylvania. This year, with sufficient school participation, two concerts are planned, for 10:00 AM and 12:00 Noon.
This year's program comprises two works composed specifically to help young people understand the instruments of the concert band:
Yankee Doodling: A Young Person’s Guide to the Concert Band by Daniel Kallman, with
Emile Guida, Narrator
An energetic and comic theme and variations of this favorite tune with a narrator to introduce the instruments of the band. This might be thought of as a parallel to Leonard Bernstein’s “Young People’s Guide to the Orchestra.”
The Gingerbread Boy in Concert by Lawrence Kursar, with Emile Guida, Narrator
This 14-minute narrated work for Concert Band features the different instruments of the brass family as characters in this American Folk Tale. Color illustrations from Richard Eiglieski’s “The Gingerbread Boy” will be projected on a large screen to enhance the performance. This marks the premier performance of this work for concert band.
Daniel Kallman’s compositions for orchestra, winds and choir are widely published and have been performed actress North America, Europe and East Asio. His steady stream of commissions also includes music for worship, theater, and the young musician. Kallman has composed for the National Symphony Orchestra, the Air Force Academy Band, the National Lutheran Choir, the Minnesota Orchestra, A Prairie Home Companion, and a wide variety of vocal and instrumental ensembles. He has received support from the American Composers Forum, Meet the Composer and the McKnight and Jerome Foundations.
Lawrence Kursar is a performer, conductor and composer. He is the Music Director and Conductor of the Hunterdon Symphony Orchestra and the Conductor of the Princeton Symphonic Brass. With the internationally known chamber music ensemble, Crosswinds Trio (trumpet, horn and piano) he helped create a new sound in chamber music. Mr. Kursar was a music educator in public schools in New Jersey for 36 years, 32 of which were in Lebanon Township schools.
Emile Guida has played clarinet and saxophone in The Allentown Band since 1988. He has served as the band’s narrator on live concerts as well as the band’s “Our Band Heritage” series of recordings. Emile is an elementary school teacher in the Pleasant Valley School District. Before becoming a teacher, Emile was an announcer for radio station WFMZ.
