Art, guests part of band's Christmas concert at MCCC

Suzanne Nolan Wisler, The Monroe News
·2 min read
The College/Community Symphony Band from Monroe County Community College is shown at its October concert.
The College/Community Symphony Band from Monroe County Community College is shown at its October concert.

Artwork, two guests and holiday songs will be part of “Holiday Portraits,” the College/Community Symphony Band’s Christmas concert. It’s the band’s first Christmas concert since the pandemic.

The performance is set for 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Meyer Theater, La-Z-Boy Center at MCCC, 1555 S. Raisinville Road. Admission is free. The public is welcome.

“Our ‘Holiday Portraits’ concert has many surprises for our audience,” director Mark Felder said. “Our holiday concerts have always been very popular with the public, and this is the first one since 2019.”

McCloskey
McCloskey

William E. McCloskey, retired MCCC professor, will read fables while the band is performing.

“He will be doing a reading of four Aesop's Fables to the musical impressions of those fables,” Felder said.

Well-known area artist Brad Schreiber also will be involved in the stories.

Schreiber
Schreiber

“At the same time (as the reading), Brad Schreiber will be drawing his impressions of the music. Those drawings will be displayed in real-time on the large movie screen above the band. Brad will be drawing to several other of our holiday favorites,” Felder said.

The band also will present “Concertino for Tuba" by James Curnow.

“The very challenging work will be played by our own Carl Holmblad on tuba. There will be many holiday favorites as well,” Felder said.

Those include “Christmas Fanfares” by Todd Stalter; “Stille Nacht” by Franz Gruber and arranged by Chip Davis and Robert Longfield; “The Thirteen Days of Christmas,” arranged by Paul Jennings; “Fantasia On Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair,” arranged by Mark Camphouse; “The Sussex Mummers' Christmas Carol,” arranged by Carl Simpson; “Dashing Through the Snow” by J. Pierpont and arranged by Richard L. Saucedo; and “Christmas Legends” by Gary Gilroy.

The MCCC events are funded through The Foundation of MCCC’s Cultural Enrichment Endowment Fund and donations from Consumers Energy Foundation, DTE Foundation, First Merchants Bank, La-Z-Boy and ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital.

For more information about community events hosted by MCCC, visit www.monroeccc.edu/events.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Art, guests part of band's Christmas concert at MCCC