Lehighton Band to hold annual spring concert

The Lehighton Band will present its annual spring concert at 2 p.m. April 28 in the auditorium of the Clyde R. Houser Building, 110 N. Third St., Lehighton.

The concert is free to the public and all are invited. The theme for the concert is “A Road Trip Through the Decades.”

The band will open its concert with Jack Stamp’s concert arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

It will continue with a circus-style march by Karl King titled the “Melody Shop March.”

The overture for the afternoon concert is “English Folk Song Suite” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and is in three parts, including “Seventeen Come Sunday,” “Intermezzo” and “Folk Song From Somerset.”

The concert will continue with a piece of music called “Time Excursions,” which will open the “road trip” of the band’s concert.

The band will continue with a medley of songs from the country’s early years called “The Good Old USA,” which includes the songs “Bicycle Built for Two,” “The Surrey With the Fringe on Top,” “In My Merry Oldsmobile,” “Seventy-Six Trombones,” “This Land Is Your Land” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag.”

The featured soloist for the concert is Joseph Plechavy III. Plechavy has been a member of the Lehighton Band for many years, is a retired music educator from Palmerton School District and is currently the director of the Palmerton Band. He will perform the trombone solo “The Old Grumbly Bear” by Julius Fucik.

The band will then return to its decade theme with songs titled “The Sixties,” “The Seventies,” “The Eighties: A Decade of Hits” and “The Nineties: A Decade of Music.”

“The Sixties,” arranged by John Higgins, includes “Born Free,” “Breakin’ Up is Hard to Do,” “Tijuana Taxi,” “I Left my Heart in San Francisco,” “Classical Gas,” “The Twist,” “Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport,” “Cherish,” “Windy,” “Satisfaction,” “You Lost that Lovin’ Feeling,” “Dominique,” “Good Vibrations,” “Alfie,” “For Once in My Life,” and “Yesterday.”

“The Seventies,” arranged by Paul Lavender, will include “On Broadway,” “I Believe in Music,” “Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown,” “The Young and the Restless,” “Love Will Keep Us Together,” “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree,” “M*A*S*H,” “Star Wars,” “Black Water,” “Brian’s Song,” “Dueling Banjos,” “The Way We Were” and “The Loco-Motion.”

“The Eighties,” arranged by John Higgins, will include “Chariots of Fire,” “Billie Jean,” “Bad,” “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” “One Moment in Time,” “Faith,” “Material Girl,” “Memory,” “Flashdance,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Uptown Girl,” “E.T.,” “Physical,” “Olympic Fanfare,” “That’s What Friends Are For,” “We Are the World” and “Somewhere Out There.”

To round out the 1980s, the band will next perform “The Best of Journey,” arranged by Paul Murtha. Included in the medley are “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart),” “Open Arms” and “Any Way You Want It.”

“The Nineties,” Decade of Music, will include “From a Distance,” “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” “Gonna Make You Sweat,” “Tears In Heaven,” “A Whole New World,” “Hero,” “Change the World,” “Wannabe,” “Tubthumping,” “Iris,” “My Heart Will Go On,” “Zoot Suit Riot,” “You’ll Be in My Heart,” “Mambo No. 5,” “Smooth,” “Forrest Gump — Main Title,” “Be Our Guest,” and “Circle of Life.”

In normal fashion, the band will close the concert with a march, and this year’s final selection is the popular “Liberty Bell March,” by John Philip Sousa.

The Lehighton Band is under the direction of Bradly R. Cressley, and is open to any musician from ninth grade on up. New members are always welcome.

Anyone interested in joining the band may attend any rehearsal from 7-9 p.m. Mondays at the band hall located at 314 S. Seventh St., Lehighton.

Also be sure to like and subscribe to The Lehighton Band on Facebook for concert and appearance information.