Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

In honor of Independence Day, there will be a lot of celebrations this weekend with parades, food and evening fireworks. But we would like to tell you about a special concert taking place this Sunday at the Trinity Baptist Church.

Produced by the Heart of Texas Concert Band in collaboration with the San Antonio Choral Society and the River City Ringers, the concert is an opportunity to hear and celebrate American music by American composers. The 90-member band’s music director, Mark Rogers explained that the decision to present only American music was made a few years ago.

“If you looked at our program from seven or eight years ago, you would see, for example, that for one July 4^th concert we imitated the Boston Pops to the extent that we played Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” which has nothing to do with the United States but, nonetheless, people like to hear the canons going off at the end. A few years ago, we made the decision not to play the “1812 Overture” anymore, not because it’s not a great piece of music, but because It was not composed by an American.”

Thus, newer programs, including the one coming up on Sunday, feature music by the likes of George & Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin. John Williams and other American composers and arrangers. Called “The Music of America,” the event will open with the national anthem, and follow that up with the Armed Forces Salute, which Rogers described as “a given for a 4^th of July concert in San Antonio.” The program also includes “Embraceable You” by the Gershwin brothers, an Irwin Berlin medley, and “Victory at Sea” a symphonic “scenario” of songs sketched by Richard Rodgers of musical theater fame, but developed and orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett.

Rogers, the band’s music director since 2009, explained that a series of post-WWII documentaries were broadcast under that title on NBC in the early 1950s. Each episode also featured a musical score, as noted above. Richard Rodgers’ contribution is described as consisting of 12 themes, which were short piano compositions each a minute or two in duration. It fell to Bennett to do most of the work by not only orchestrating the “themes” but also by composing a great deal of additional music.

Also on the Sunday program, is “Hymn for America” by the prolific contemporary composer and Grammy winner, Stephen Paulus, who died a few years ago. This number will be performed by the San Antonio Choral Society’s Sonoro Ensemble.

In planning the overall program, Rogers likes to keep the excitement alive by alternating soloists and the participating ensembles, always ending both the pre-intermission and post-intermission finale “with a splash.” Cornet soloist, Jacob Kolodziej, will appear in the first part with “The Bride of the Waves” by Herbert L. Clarke, while vocalist Elizabeth Failing will sing “Embraceable You” in the second part, though an encore or two are likely, noted Rogers.

“We always include choral music and vocalists,” said Rogers. “I’ve been involved with the musical theater world in San Antonio for years and I understand how the immediate spoken word and singing voices touch the hearts of people. So, I have gone out of my way to have choral groups perform with us at these community concerts. Elizabeth has a charm and the charisma that audiences respond to.”

For even more variety, the concert will also include two numbers by the River City Ringers who perform using bells, in addition to audience sing-along opportunities at the very end.

 For her part, the Choral Society’s artistic director, Jennifer Seighman, is more than happy to participate and be finally back on stage for an in-person performance for her singers, the first since March 2020.

“I think our members are just happy to be singing again” she commented. “Because it is patriotic music, chances are that they have heard these compositions before, but it’s nice to be able to do a fresh arrangement with a concert band and choir together. We usually do not have a concert band for our concerts so it’s just fun to collaborate with these different instruments and different musicians.”

During the school year, the Heart of Texas Concert Band is the resident music ensemble at San Antonio College, mostly performing at the McAllister Auditorium and working with talented students on and off the stage. But twice a year, for Christmas and the 4^th of July, they venture onto different territory by offering concerts with wide appeal for audiences of all ages and preferences, that always include some familiar and much-loved music.

“We are going through difficult times in our country and there are some people who are less than thrilled to be a Americans. As for me, there’s no place that I would rather be living than here. Not only am I an American, I am also a very proud Texan. We usually finish our 4^th of July program with a rendition of “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” But this concert is not about being a Texan. It’s about being an American.”
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“The Music of America”; 3 p.m. Sunday July 4; Trinity Baptist Church, 319 E. Mulberry Ave, 78212; free