Neddermeyer Triumphal and Wisconsin’s Pride, both written by Karl L. King, along with Brooke’s Chicago Marine Band by Roland Seitz
were the marches featured on this concert.  For the evening' galop, the band performed King’s exciting Excelsior Galop.

Lighter selections included Karl King’s intermezzo, In A Moonlit Garden, and the beautiful love theme composed by John Williams for the movie Superman, Can You Read My Mind?

The evening’s overture was from the opera, Orpheus, by composer Jacques Offenbach, who was the creator and leading exponent of the French comic opera.  This opera had its first performance in Paris in 1858, and its American debut in New York City in 1861.  It includes the familiar melody associated with the Can-Can.  The band also performed Mississippi Suite Overture, by American composer Ferde Grofe, who was an important contributor to the development of American jazz as serious music.  This suite was written for orchestra leader Paul Whiteman, and debuted at Carnegie Hall in 1925.

G. B. Evans on Tuba, playing The Old Grumbly Bear, by Julius Fucik, was the soloist for this Sunday’s concert.  He graduated from Northeast Hamilton Community Schools in Blairsburg, and received his AA degree from Iowa Central Community College.  Mr. Evans has played Tuba in the King Band for the past 40 years, having appeared twice before as soloist, and has served the past 30 years as the band’s set-up manager.  He currently lives in Webster City, where he serves as band manager of the Community Band there as well, and has also performed with Dow Jones and the Averages and the Al Welsh Orchestra.

Mr. Evans was joined by the other members of the Tuba section to perform G. H. Huffine’s march, Basses On A Rampage.

The concert closed with the playing of The Star-spangled Banner.

Conductor Jerrold Jimmerson poses with some friends of Karl King and the Karl King Band.  On the left is Max Whitlock, retired bandmaster who taught in Payton, Jewell, and South Hamilton Schools.  To the right is Torry Antimuro, retired bandmaster who taught in Sanborn and Webster City.  Torry played clarinet for Karl King beginning in 1959.

The Karl L. King Municipal Band of Fort Dodge closed their 2007 summer season on July 29 with their final concert at the Karl L. King Park in front of the Fort Dodge Public Library.

Several special performances highlighted the evening.  First, Tim Miller and David Swaroff performed the Double Concerto by Antonio Vivaldi.  This composition dates back to the Baroque Period, and featured both players taking turns on trumpet echoing the melody.  Tim Miller is the Junior High Band Director at the Humboldt schools, while David Swaroff is the Junior High Band Director at Southeast Webster-Grand Schools.  Both have been members of the King Band for many years, and both play with the popular area Brass quintet, Jive For Five.

Next, Harlan Vandeberg, retired Band Director from Phillips Middle School in Fort Dodge, joined them to perform Leroy Anderson’s classic trumpet trio, Bugler’s Holiday, which is always an audience favorite.

Karl Killinger from Des Moines was the guest conductor on this program.  Mr Killinger is known throughout the United States as a conductor of many circus bands.  His musical career began in Fort Dodge, where his father was the director of the United States Gypsum Mill Band and was a baritone player for Karl King.  Mr. Killinger also played both trombone and baritone in the King Band, beginning in 1939, and was featured as a soloist on occasion.  He taught for 39 years in the Des Moines School District, and conducts the Iowa Military Veterans Band, the Des Moines Municipal Band, and the ZaGaZig Shrine Band.

Mr Killinger conducted two selections.  First, a march written by his father, Henry Killinger, entitled American Standard, and then one of his own compositions, Cyclorama.

There were several Karl L. King compositions that evening, with The Caravan Club March, Silver Fountain Waltz, and Prestissimo Galop on the program.  In addition, the band played New Colonial March by R. B. Hall.

The evening’s classical offering featured the work of Russian composer, Peter Ilyich Tschaikovsky, with the band performing Marche Slave.  In this composition, written originally for orchestra in 1876, the composer reflected his own sympathies for the plight of the Slavic people in their war against Turkey.   The band also performed a medley of songs by the American composer, George Gershwin.  Excerpts included in The Symphonic Gershwin were An American In Paris, Rhapsody In Blue, and Cuban Overture.

The band closed the 2007 season in the traditional circus way, by playing Auld Lang Syne March by Karl L. King, followed by our National Anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.