Reading's Bandshell Concert Series opens Friday with celebration of America

Jul. 3—Berks Arts will usher in its popular Bandshell Concert Series on Friday with the Reading Pops Orchestra in a program that will celebrate Americana with patriotic marches, big band jazz and selections from Broadway. Led by guest conductor Daniel Neuenschwander, the concert will feature guest vocalist Maria Damore.

Neuenschwander, assistant professor of music and director of bands at Kutztown University, where he has been on the faculty since 2008, said that he wanted to program music with American roots and themes, since the concert takes place only four days after the nation's birthday.

The audience will hear "American Salute," by Morton Gould, with variations on "When Johnny Comes Marching Home;" Edwin Eugene Bagley's "National Emblem March," based on the first 12 notes of "The Star-Spangled Banner;" John Philip Sousa's "El Capitan" march from his operetta by the same name (along with his perennial favorite, "The Stars and Stripes Forever"); and the "Armed Forces Salute," a medley of songs from all branches of the service.

As film composer John Williams celebrates his 90th birthday this year, Neuenschwander also chose Williams' Overture to the 1972 Western "The Cowboys." Also on the program will be selections by Georges Bizet from the opera "Carmen" and "Rhosymedre" by Ralph Vaughan Williams, based on a Welsh hymn.

Damore, a versatile singer who recently received the Frank Scott Award for her contributions to jazz in the Berks County community, will perform songs from Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story" and the Jule Styne/Bob Merrill show "Funny Girl," as well as "Sway" (originally "Quien Sera") by Mexican band leader Pablo Beltran Ruiz and the Etta James signature song "At Last," written in 1941 by Mack Gordon and Harry Warden.

Neunenschwander, originally from Monroe, Wisc., has been a trombonist since his high school days, and now teaches trombone at KU, along with coaching brass ensembles. He taught music in public schools in Ohio, where he earned his master's degree at the University of Akron. He also was a visiting lecturer in music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned his doctorate in music teacher education, prior to coming to KU.

Neunenschwander said he still enjoys playing in ensembles. This summer he has been in the pit for the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Company's production of "A Chorus Line," and he performs in trombone choirs and brass ensembles whenever possible.

Damore performs many styles of music, including jazz, pop/rock, Greek folk music, musical theater and opera. Her ensembles include the Maria Damore Pop/Rock Duo, Trio or Five-Piece Band; her jazz ensemble, Maria & the Jazzy Gents; and the Greek music duo, Stavros & Maria. She has taken leading roles in many Berks Opera Company productions, most recently as Mountain Mary Jung in the world premiere of "These Valleys and Mountains," by composer Chris Heslop and librettist Vicki Haller Graf, commissioned by BOC.

Willis Rapp, the Reading Pops Orchestra's music director, has taken a leave of absence from April 3 to Sept. 30 this year in order to work on the completion of the Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research at KU.

The bandshell concert begins at 7 p.m. and will be preceded by presentations from two local musical organization — Buccaneers Banner Brass and the GoggleWorks Student Fellowship with Pagoda City Records — starting at 6.

Families are encouraged to bring blankets, lawn chairs and their dancing shoes to City Park. Food vendors are available on-site. Any weather-related schedule changes are posted on Facebook and announced on local radio stations. Alcohol and smoking are not permitted in City Park, and dogs must be on a leash.

For more information about the bandshell concerts, visit www.berksarts.org.