11:24am | The beloved Long Beach Municipal Band has, for more than 100 years, thrilled audiences young and old with free summer concerts at parks around the City. This Sunday, August 28th, the band will play at the Alamitos Bay Landing, joined by vocalist Derek Bordeaux. Also performing is the much celebrated Grammy winner, operatic tenor Gary Lakes, who will deliver a set of a capella Irish songs.
Tickets for this performance begin at $30, with VIP dinner packages also available. All proceeds from the ticket sales will go to the new Municipal Band Foundation, which is currently working on the goal of raising $200,000.
Larry Curtis has been at the helm of the Long Beach Municipal Band for nearly 20 years. In that time, he’s seen attendance grow and, at the same time, funding dwindle. I asked him how he planned to use the additional revenue.
Larry: First of all, our performance calendar needs to be expanded so we can offer more weeks of concerts to the citizens. We were cut down to 5 weeks this year. We normally were performing 8 weeks. In addition, in my first year we recorded a CD [now out of print – ed]. We would like to do that again.
Our music library budget has also been significantly reduced, making it impossible for us to have new, popular arrangements written for the band, which had been possible in the past. I am also interested in expanding our concert events into schools to help educate the next generation about the place that music has in our society.
Sander: Do you know, roughly, what percentage of fiscal support comes directly from the City, and how much from donations?
Larry: It is my understanding that fiscal suppot by the City is no longer drawn from the General Fund, or tax-based support. However, funds from City related areas, such as LB Gas & Oil, the Tidelands fund, grants from Environmental Services, and the Port of LB equalled approximately 70%, and the rest was made up by donations from private citizens and money collected at the concerts from the audience.
Of course the City continues to develop as a major economic center and as an important city in our State. The band audiences have more than quadrupled in the 19 years that I have been the conductor, but the most important change is that those audiences are listening intently to the music, which encourages our selection to be more refined. This, mixed with high quality, professional performances by our musicians, have resulted in a certain pride that our audiences have – their Municipal Band is really the best in the nation… and it definitely is THEIR Municipal Band. The finanicial support from the audience has also quadrupled.
I believe that the band is a significant addition to our listeners in terms of quality of living in this city, and Long Beach is one of only a handful of cities in the nation who offer their citizens this bit of Americana. That makes us quite unique and valuable.
Sander: While most people see you conducting, there’s much more to your job. What else do you do?
Larry: In addition to being the conductor, I also function as the Music Director, which entails selection of literature, selection of the performers, and overseeing all aspects of the concert production.
The music for each concert is selected from our music library, where we have approximately 1,000 titles. In addition, I peruse music newly written and available through a music publisher and online. The process begins with a selection of themes for each week of concerts. Then I match our available music to each of those themes.
For instance, this past summer, one week was dedicated to 100 years of flight, with the emphasis on the first transcontinental flight which landed on the beach near Pine Ave in 1911. Music, which I selected, was a whimsical look at all things that fly, which included Magificent Men in their Flying Machines, Superman, E.T., Flight of the Bumble Bee, and Star Wars. So you can see we had a lot of fun with that theme.
Sander: That theme was a collaboration of sorts, wasn’t it, with 5th District Council member Gerrie Schipske?
Larry: Yes, Council member Schipske approached me with the idea during the fall of 2010.
Sander: How do you normally develop themes?
Larry: Throughout the year I am always contemplating, and looking for inspiration. Sometimes the themes come to me at 2:30 in the morning! I write them down and continue to develop them over a couple months, and also look for new music which might fit the theme. I have to admit that, after doing this for the last 19 years, there have been a few times where themes have been repeated, but always with a new twist or new music.
Sander: What is the theme for Sunday’s performance?
Larry: A taste of Summer! It will feature a nice mix of of American favorites including Gershwin’s “Strike Up the Band,” selections from the musical “Chicago,” the music of George M Cohan, and a selection of Dixieland tunes, plus local, guest rhythm and blues sensation Derek Bordeaux will be performing on the 2nd half, and grammy award winner, Gary Lakes (operatic tenor) will perform for the audience as well.
Sander: How can people directly support the band?
Larry: There are a few ways:
1) Attend fund raising events, like the one this Sunday at the Alamitos Bay Landing,
2) Become a member of the Foundation, which can be done at www.LongBeachMunicipalBand.org,
3) Contact us if you have connections with corporate sponsors, and
4) Write your Council member stating the importance of this historic musical tradition in Long Beach.
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Tickets and VIP Dinner Packages are available online at McKennasOnTheBay.com.
To learn more about the Long Beach Municipal Band, including performance schedules, history, and to make on-line donations, visit LongBeachMunicipalBand.org.
You can also learn more about Gary Lakes, who I had the great good fortune to see in the starring role of LA Opera’s production of Samson et Dalila, at wikipedia.org.