DOWAGIAC – The Southwestern Michigan College Brass Band will be presenting a 20th Anniversary Concert benefitting the Carolyn McKnight-Tarwacki Scholarship Fund. The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. June 1 in the theatre of the Dale A. Lyons Building on the Dowagiac campus. Tickets are $12.
The performance, which will be a Sousa-style concert, will be presented using the same concert format that John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) used with his band. Since there were no public address systems in Sousa’s day, he did not speak to the audience during a concert. He quickly strode on stage, acknowledged the audience on his way to the podium, and started the concert immediately upon stepping onto the podium.
After each selection, the Sousa Band (1892-1932) would play an encore which was almost always a march. The title of each march was displayed on a placard.
There will be seven Sousa marches played during the SMC performance, one after each of the selections listed in the program. Sousa would always program a wide variety of selections, offering something for everyone. These included his compositions of popular selections of the day and new works by contemporary composers.
In addition to performing the most popular Sousa marches, the SMC Brass Band will also perform “Buglers Holiday” by Leroy Anderson, “Thoughts of Love” by Arthur Pryor, featuring guest soloist Gary Cooper on trombone, and the Queen of the Night Aria from “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, featuring soprano cornet soloist Steve Bizoe.
The SMC Brass Band is under the direction of Dr. Jonathan Korzun, director of bands at the college. To reserve tickets call (269) 782-1280. For further information contact Korzun at (269) 782-1225 or email at jkorzun@swmich.edu.
The Southwestern Michigan College Brass Band was founded in 1992 by Korzun. The band gave its first performance on March 28, 1992. The SMC Brass Band is composed of area band directors, community members, and SMC students. It is a British-style ensemble modeled after the brass bands popular throughout Europe. The Brass Band is one of three bands at SMC. The Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble are student groups that meet each fall and spring semester.
Carolyn McKnight-Tarwacki Scholarship Fund
On Feb. 5, 2010 Carolyn Tarwacki and her husband John were tragically killed. Carolyn was a long time member of the SMC Brass Band, and a friend, classmate, colleague, and mentor to hundreds if not thousands in the SMC community.
To honor Carolyn and John, and their devotion to music, a scholarship fund has been established at SMC in her name. Scholarships will be awarded each year to deserving students attending SMC who are active in music. Donations are being sought to make this fund as large as possible.
If you wish to make a contribution, please make the check payable to “Southwestern Michigan College Foundation” and indicate it is for the Carolyn McKnight-Tarwacki Scholarship Fund. You may give your check to a member of the Box Office staff, or you may mail to Southwestern Michigan College Foundation, 58900 Cherry Grove Rd., Dowagiac, MI 49047.
All donations to an SMC scholarship fund are matched dollar-for-dollar by Southwestern Michigan College, so contributions are doubled automatically. All proceeds from the June 1 performance will be deposited in the Carolyn McKnight-Tarwacki Scholarship Fund.
Source: News release from Southwestern Michigan College
