Film tunes, light classics fill Purdue Summer Band concert

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Family musical fare fills the Purdue Summer Band’s annual outdoor concert set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 15, at Slayter Center, located on the corner of Stadium and Martin Jischke Drive in West Lafayette.

A medley from “Hairspray” and John Williams tunes from the cinematic blockbusters like “Raiders of the Lost Arc” will be featured at the concert which includes an array of marches and light classics.

Three directors will take turns leading the 60-member band – Purdue Band Department Head Jay Gephart, Purdue graduate assistant Jessica Beall and Harrison High School Band Director Steve Cotton.

 

 

“We have so many students from the community in the band that it’s a neat bridge to have someone from the community like Steve Cotton guest conduct,” Gephart says.

The band offers a salute to the Beijing Olympics with “Olympiada” by Samuel Hazo. “It’s a tribute to the determination and dedication of the Olympic athlete that’s very appropriate as we approach the Aug. 8 opening ceremonies,” Gephart says. Another concert highlight comes in “Under the Big Top,” a lively medley of circus marches with a narrator serving as ringmaster to add to the musical circus.

 

Admission to the hour-long concert is free, and those attending are encouraged to bring picnics as well as blankets and/or lawn chairs for lawn seating.

The Purdue Summer Band is a long-standing tradition that pulls together college students, Purdue faculty and staff members, high school students and community musicians for an intensive summer band experience. The musicians rehearse twice a week for a month then present an outdoor concert.

“The thing about summer band that I enjoy is the wonderful mix of people. It’s the one time a year it exists and it takes a great collaboration to make it happen. That’s what makes it so fun,” says Gephart.

 

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