The concert begins in Australia with Percy Grainger’s Children’s March. The subtitle Over the Hills and Far Away is an ambiguous location where the composer is destined to find his sweetheart. Grainger then takes us to the county of Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England. In Lincolnshire, in the early 1900′s, Grainger recorded folksingers and assembled his iconic collection Lincolnshire Posy. After intermission, Morton Gould reminds us that the only place a soldier wants to be is home. His American Salute is a clever twist on the American Civil War song When Johnny Comes Marching Home. Gould then transports us to the biblical town of Jericho where we can actually hear the walls "come tumblin’ down." 

Next, Julie Giroux brings us to a fictional video game universe where Riften is a city in Skyrim located in the expansive world of The Elder Scrolls. Finally, we return to Earth and Belgrade, Serbia where composer Ante Grgin is the principal clarinetist of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. Be prepared for the unbelievably dynamic performance of Grgin’s Concertino for Clarinet by the phenomenal clarinetist Charlie Suriyakham! Enjoy the journey.

Enthusiastic band music for a youthful audience.

Festival band music for the Town of Concord's Annual Tree Lighting

Pirates, whales, and Godzilla, oh my! Come explore the depths of the sea with this mix of old and new favorites. Classic highlights include Gustav Holst’s Hammersmith (written along the River Thames) and Percy Grainger’s Molly on the Shore. Also included are newer works such as a symphonic suite from Pirates of the Caribbean, Benjamin Horne’s arrangement of the spiritual “Deep River,” and Lindsay Bronnenkant’s depiction of the ruler of the sea in Tarot cards, “The King of Cups.” 

The program is bookended by a sparring between Godzilla and Moth[ra], featuring Viet Cuong’s Moth and Eric Whitacre’s uproarious Godzilla Eats Las Vegas. You won’t want to miss this concert, but beware… some of these creatures might show up to the performance!