Band Concert: The Pines of Rome

The Metropolitan Wind Symphony will continue their 45th season with their Spring Band Concert on Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 3:00 pm, at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum, 33 Marrett Road, Lexington, MA. MWS Music director Lewis J. Buckley will conduct the program. Featured will be To Those Who Fly by Joseph Eidson, Celebration Fanfare by Steve Reineke, Music for Life by Lewis J. Buckley, Side Partners, a charming, 20th century duet by Herbert L. Clarke with Mark Olson and Dan Lasdow, cornet soloists, and the monumental Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi. Talented student musicians will join the MWS musicians in playing Shepherd's Hey and Irish Tune from County Derry by Percy Grainger, Rushmore by Alfred Reed, and The Wind in the Willows by Johan de Meij. Mr. Buckley will deliver a pre-concert lecture at 2:30 pm.

Trumpet soloist Mark Olson, Director of Bands at Harvard, served as Interim Conductor of the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra and currently is Director of the Middlesex Concert Band. Olson received his BM degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN and an MA degree in Music Education from the University of Minnesota. An active trumpet performer and soloist, he is currently the Principal Trumpet of the Metropolitan Wind Symphony and performs with the New Sousa Band.

Trumpet soloist Daniel Lasdow holds a bachelor of Music Education degree from Lowell State College and a Master of Music degree in trumpet performance from UMASS Lowell. As a trumpeter, he is a member of the Metropolitan Wind Symphony and the Academy Brass Quintet. Mr. Lasdow has performed with the Cape Cod, Plymouth, Brockton and New Bedford Symphony Orchestras, Boston Brass Ensemble, A Touch of Brass Quintet, and the Monomoy and Company theaters.

Tickets are $18 for adults, $14 for seniors, $6 for students, and are free for children under 5. They are available at the door or can be reserved by telephone. Call the MWS Concert Line at (978) 419-1697 to reserve or purchase tickets. Visit the MWS web page at http://www.mws-boston.org for information and directions. Email mws@mws-boston.org with any questions.

Founded by Jerry Gardner in 1971, the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, a concert band, is currently celebrating its 45th anniversary. The MWS comprises over 70 talented woodwind, brass, and percussion instrumentalists who audition for membership and seating. It makes a significant contribution to the cultural life of the Greater Boston community by providing its audiences with high quality concerts and its members with opportunities for musical growth.

This and other concerts by the MWS are funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.