Melodies from the stage and screen filled the air of College Green yesterday evening as the Ohio University Summer Band presented its first concert in the annual Under the Elms concert series.
Each of our concerts this year is somewhat thematic in nature
said John Climer, director of bands at OU and conductor of the summer band.
This week's concert, entitled Showtime featured music from the stage and screen. Selections included medleys from The Sound of Music Porgy and Bess and Les Miserables. The band also performed a medley entitled John Williams in Concert
which contained melodies from Williams' well-known scores of ET
Jaws and Star Wars.
Athens residents young and old gathered on the green to enjoy the summer tradition. Mary Ann Sympson of Athens, whose husband plays in the band, attended the concert with her daughter and four grandchildren from Worthington.
It sounds really first class
said Sympson, who has been attending the concert series for more than 20 years. The band is lucky to have OU professors and local band directors come to play because it makes the band sound very professional, she said.
The summer band is made up of approximately 100 members, who travel from as far as Columbus and Cincinnati just to perform with the band, Climer said. The band also includes people from every imaginable career
he said.
The Under the Elms concert series began in the 1940s, Climer said, but had a brief hiatus during the Vietnam War. In 1979, the band was restarted by two music professors and has been around ever since, he said.
Climer's favorite part of the summer band program is seeing the passion of the community members who don't get to play music on a daily basis
he said. He added that he enjoys seeing the community come together to support the ensembles at OU.
The summer band is open to all students and community members who enjoy playing music, Climer said. The band holds one rehearsal Tuesdays from 7:15 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. in Glidden Hall, room 101. Concerts are every Wednesday evening at 7:00 on College Green. In the case of rain, the concert will take place inside Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
Next week's concert theme is Celebrate America
and will be conducted by Dan Presgrave, an OU alumnus and conductor of the band and orchestra at Washington University in St. Louis.
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