April 11, 2010

The third indoor concert for the 2010 winter season by the Karl L. King Municipal Band of Fort Dodge was held on Sunday afternoon, April 11. This concert served a two-fold purpose. The first was the presentation of the Karl L. King scholarships.  Four talented students auditioned during the day, and the winners were announced during the afternoon performance.

From left, bassoonist Rachel Leeper, daughter of Jeff and Jeanine Leeper of Decorah; French Horn player Jacie Simon, daughter of Denny and Sue Simon of Rockwell City; Saxophonist Nick LeWarne, son of Joel and Amy LeWarne of Marshalltown; and percussionist Nick Bailey, son of Kent and Millissa Bailey of Webster City.  Nick and Jacie were winners of $500 scholarships to Iowa Central Community College

Rachel Leeper was the winner of the $1,000 scholarship to any 4-year Iowa college or university.  She performed Akela modahinia nao eskrayvoo and Valsa Improvisada.  Rachel has a special connection with the Karl King Band because her grandfather, Ross Leeper, was a long time member of the Band.

The four scholarship audition participants were invited to join in playing a Karl King's March: Drake Relays with the Band.  Jacie Simon, currently a freshman at Iowa Central Community College, is pictured above performing on her French Horn.

Nick LeWarne, senior at Marshalltown High School, is performing his alto saxophone with the Karl King Band.  Percussionist Nick Bailey, a freshman at Iowa Central Community College, is playing snare.

The second feature of the concert coincides with Iowa Central Community College’s Focus series.  This year the college had chosen Canada for its cultural emphasis, and the selections on the program reflected this heritage with music from our neighbors to the north.

Selections by the Band’s namesake, Karl L. King, included his marches, Fete Triumphal and Drake Relays, along with Royal Hippodrome Galop. The closing march on the concert was one of the most popular songs in Canada today, The Maple Leaf Forever by Alexander Muir, arranged by Steve Reisteter.

This concert also included music reflecting the past heritages of Canada, having been the homeland for French, British, Eskimo, and Indian settlers. The Folk Song Suite, by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams is a standard band work in three movements and includes the songs, Seventeen Come Sunday, My Bonny Boy, and Folk Songs from Somerset.

The music of French composer Emile Waldteufel was heard with the familiar waltz melody, The Skaters.  Rounding out the concert was a new work for band by young Canadian composer David Eastmond, entitled Kanata Spring, based on the Canadian National Anthem.  The word, Kanata, is an Iroquoian Indian word meaning “village or settlement”, and was the basis for the country’s name.