Medina Community Band’s history can be traced back to it’s beginning as the Medina Silver Cornet Band in 1856.  The late historian and band member David Van Doren’s history of our band traces its roots from our beginning through 2013.  From that point, Marcus Neiman, current conductor, and historian will attempt to provide a historical follow-up.

David M. Van Doren, Jr.

• Contrabass Clarinet, Medina Community Band Member
• Band Historian, “Community Bands of Medina, Ohio 1859 – 1996” 
  • All rights donated to the Medina, Ohio Community Band Association
  • Dedicated to Marcus Lawrence Neiman, On the 25th year (1997) of his service as recruiter for, organizer of, and conductor of the Medina Community Band. Thank you, Maestro!

David published “Community Bands of Medina Ohio, 1859 to 1996”, in 1997, some of which appears in this history written by Marcus L. Neiman and edited by David and wife Jan for the 150-year celebration held during 2009. Material for the 1997 history was collected from 1850 to 1996 newspapers in the basement of the Medina County Historical Society (MCHS), various US censuses available in the Medina County Library, interviews with persons in Medina who had connections in time past with the MCB, and from MCB archives. Photographs were obtained from the MCHS, Medina Community Design Committee, and from a few individuals, especially Brenda Marshall. The manuscript was edited by the author’s daughter, Mary, and it was printed by daughter Lisa.

Download Medina Community Band History Documents

by David M. Van Doren, Jr.

Download Revised 2019 Medina Community Band History Documents

by Marcus Neiman, Conductor

Music Commissioned By Medina Community Band

(As of June 12, 2019)

The commissioning of musical compositions by a musical organization is a cause for celebration.  Finding a composer, going through the process of making decisions about the kind of piece, length, instrumentation, if there will be a soloist – and if so, what voice or instrument – and for what occasion, is a journey.  The end result is a celebration of the creative talent of all involved composer, band (in our case), conductor, and audience. 

The listing below is alphabetical, by composer, then date of composition, beginning with the most current.  I have tried to provide information about the composer and the reason for the commission.  In some cases, the resulting musical composition is a remembrance of an individual, in others, the celebration of an occasion.

Marcus L. Neiman, conductor

Medina Community Band

Douglas Court, from the James Curnow Publishing Company, was commissioned by Medina Community Band (MCB) to compose a trumpet rhapsody for the memory of Eugene Wind, deceased member of MCB). Court composed “Rhapsody for Trumpet and Band,” which was premiered in 1997 with Marcia Nelson Kline as soloist.

Douglas Court has written exclusively for Curnow Music since 1994. Doug is a native of Toronto, Canada and received his early musical training in The Salvation Army. His formal training was received at the University of Toronto where he studied trumpet and graduated with a Bachelor of Music Education degree. Doug has also studied composition at the University of South Florida. While living in Toronto, Doug worked as a freelance trumpet player performing with groups such as the Canadian Opera Company orchestra.

1996 – “Rhapsody for Trumpet and Band”, trumpet concerto, composer Douglas Court, Curnow Music Press, in memory of Eugene Wind. 

Robert Feldbush is a music educator with over fifty years of experience working with school music groups, from elementary school to college level. He attended Kent State University where he received degrees in music education and music theory and composition. Bob also spent four years in the United States Navy and attended the Navy School of Music in Washington, D.C. Twenty-six years of his public-school teaching were spent at Cuyahoga Falls High School in Ohio. His marching band and jazz ensembles consistently received superior ratings. In January of 2000, he received a distinguished alumnus award in music education from Kent State University. He has been a member of the adjunct faculty of the Kent State Stark Campus where he directed the Kent Jazz Society big band.

Bob performs professionally with a variety of musical groups on saxophone, clarinet, and flute. Some of the groups he plays in are the John Trapani Big Band, the Meadowbrook Big Band, the Canton Cabaret Orchestra, the Storyville Stompers, and the Stark County Fair Band. He is in great demand as a clinician, and has written and arranged many musical works on commission. Several of his compositions are published by Ludwig/Great Works Publishing Company. Always actively writing music, Bob has contributed over thirty arrangements to The Swing Machine’s repertoire.

1986 – “Gazebo March”, concert march, composer Robert Feldbush

Feldbush dedicated “The Gazebo March” to the MCB and Maestro Neiman in 1986, The Gazebo march, premiered on the Gazebo in June of 1986.  In addition, he arranged numerous pieces for solo instrument or voice that have been performed by the Band.

1983 – “Children’s Hour,” arranger Robert Feldbush

“Children’s Hour “was commissioned by MCB and Maestro Neiman, with its world premiere on June 17, 1983 in the Uptown Park Gazebo.  The piece features sing-a-long songs for adults and children.

1982 – “Man of Medina”, composer Robert Feldbush

Feldbush wrote “Man of Medina,” commissioned by MCB and dedicated to Maestro Neiman. The piece had its ‘World Premiere’ performance at the Friday evening Band concert on June 4, 1983.  At the time, it was written, Feldbush was a member of MCB.

1982 – “Old Phoenix National Bank March,” composer Robert Feldbush.

He arranged for concert band the Theme of the Old Phoenix National Bank March to be performed by the MCB July 30^th that year as part of the Bank’s 125^th anniversary, complete with anniversary cake.  Ken Courtright, WDBN radio, served as narrator for the event.

Tadd Russo (b. 1976) serves as an arranger for the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C., and teaches music technology at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.  He received his master’s degree in composition from The Ohio State University, where his principal instructor was Thomas Wells.  He has studied film and Broadway orchestration with Steven Scott Smalley and Joe Gianono.  Tadd’s music has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Edinburgh, Scotland), the OCEAn festival (Oberlin Conservatory), the Electrolune Festival (Lunel, France), the Society of Composers 2006 National Convention (San Antonio, Texas) and by the Dallas Wind Symphony (Dallas, Texas).  As an arranger/orchestrator, he has worked with Ben Vereen, Ronan Tynan, Darin Atwater’s Soulful Symphony, Empire Brass, and Kool and the Gang, among others.  He currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife Erica and daughter Rachel.

Tadd was born in Parma, Ohio and raised in Medina and as you can see from the picture at right, his mother brought him to the Medina Community Band concerts on the square in Medina early.  The picture was probably taken at the July 4^th, 1976 concert of Medina Community Band.

2009 – “ Summer Evening on the Square “, commissioned for the 150th anniversary of the Medina Community Band, the world premiere will be the concert on July 31, 2009 with composer Tadd Russo conducting.

When asked about his inspiration for the commission by Medina Community Band, Tadd made the following comments in an email to conductor Marcus Neiman (June 25^th, 2009): 

 Harmonically, I chose to use sus2 and sus4 chords throughout the fanfare—partially as an homage to the guitar (tuned in fourths) and partially because they grew organically out of the opening theme (Bb F C).  The harmonic progressions, especially the sharp turns in the opening and closing sections, are influenced by film music and are often mediant relations (or, by extension, tritone relations—the tritone is also a conspicuous interval in the Lydian scale).  These are meant to surprise the listener and demand attention.  Music from films was one of the ways that I was drawn to symphonic music as a teenager.

The bass instruments often play in fifths–vertically, as well as horizontally (in parallel fifths), which references guitar power chords.  I began playing guitar in high school and learned most of my theory initially from singing in choir with Frank Bianchi, and teaching myself guitar (later in formal theory studies with Gary Ciulla and Garnet Hicks, band directors in the Medina City Schools).

The winds do what they do best in these situations–scales and figures built off of the chords with the occasional pentatonic or whole-tone run. The woodwind theme is more of a march style theme than anything that came before it and gives the ear a little break from the screaming brass section as well as a break from Bb.  It is also a great chance to feature the woodwind section.

The trumpet flourishes bring us back to Bb and the fanfare feel and are meant to contrast with the relative darkness of the trombone register.

My intent was to feature the trombones, as this was the instrument I was drawn to as a child and played from junior high through high school (in the Medina City Schools), and a very little bit in college.  From a technical perspective, I wanted the opening to be built on the overtone series of the trombone’s first position (in a bugle style), with shifts to the second and third position for color notes.  This evolved into using a Lydian scale based on Bb, which is joyful, but brash (much like the trombone).

The decision was made to present the first commission to Cincinnati, Ohio, composer David Shaffer in memory of Eugene Wind, who passed away in an industrial accident.  Wind was from Cincinnati and the selection of a Cincinnati composer was appropriate. Shaffer accepted the commission and composed a piece that would feature trumpet (which Gene played) and had some sort of connection to boating (a pastime that the Wind family enjoyed). The Band, Neiman, and Wind were practical jokers at heart. Several of Wind’s boating friends and Neiman made the suggestion that the title for the commissioned piece be “Passed Wind,” a title that they knew would find favor in Wind’s heart. They were outvoted by more conservative members of the ensemble for a more “appropriate” title of Windward Passage. The composition was first performed on a Friday evening in June 1995 on the Square with Medina Community Band playing. Unfortunately, just prior to the premiere performance the skies opened with a summer storm.  The Band and Shaffer decided to “go forward” with the playing anyway. Gene Wind would have been very pleased. Windward Passage remains on the Barnhouse Publication list and is selling well.

1995 – “Windward Passage”, concert march, composer David Shaffer, Barnhouse Publication, in memory of Eugene Wind

Eugene “Gene” Wind, Sr., a trumpet player from Wadsworth played with the band for ten years, died in an industrial accident after the 1993 season.   

Neiman had met Wind at high school band activities at Highland High School, where Wind was a band booster and later band booster president.  Their friendship and mutual love for bands and band music encouraged Neiman to extend an invitation to Wind to join MCB, which he did. Following Wind’s death, the decision was made to honor his memory with the commissioning of a composition for band.  A donation of funds from the family actually made possible two pieces to be composed.

MCB had a special relationship with nationally known composer Edmund J. Siennicki, of Sharon Center.  Not only had Siennicki played bassoon in the Band for over 17 years, but over time the Band had played some of his music dedicated to the Medina Community Band (MCB), the Medina County Schools Fair Honors Bands, or to Medina County citizens. Specifically, for MCB, Siennicki wrote or arranged the following: Patty-Cake for Band (1984) played in manuscript and later published with Shawnee Press, commissioned by MCB; Siennicki had also used MCB to record numerous of his pieces for submission to his publishers and has been a long-time financial sponsor of MCB.

Edmund Siennicki, beloved father, brother, uncle, music educator and composer died on Saturday, May 3, 2014, of natural causes. He was 94. Edmund was the loving father of Barbara (Sergio Barroso) Siennicki; and dear brother of Helene McKee. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews and his dearest friend, Nellie Renner.

Edmund will be remembered today by scores of students who were inspired by his first-hand knowledge of instrumental music as a performer, conductor, composer, and teacher. He was well-known throughout Ohio over many years, having taught music in the Cleveland Public School at Collinwood High School, Thomas Jefferson Junior High, and Mooney Junior High.

Edmund was awarded the Martha Holden Jennings Master Teacher Award in 1964. This award provided him the opportunity to live at the MacDowell Colony, a residence for artists, composers and authors, and an experience he treasured throughout his life. As a conductor, Edmund was an Assistant Director with the Ohio State Fair Band as well as many community and school musical groups throughout the state.

With over 400 publications of his compositions and arrangements of music for schools, Edmund reached an international audience with performances throughout the U.S., Europe, and Japan. To graduates of Kent State University, his name might not be known but his music is, for he composed the Kent State fight song in the 1940s. It is still played at football games today.

Edmund completed his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education at Kent after returning from military service during World War II. He obtained his MA from Teachers College, Columbia University, NYC, in 1948, at the same time studying with the noted bassoon teacher, Simon Kovar. He also became known as a talented pianist, working nights as a pianist in local clubs in Cleveland and Akron. Over the years, Edmund has performed in numerous ensembles as a bassoonist, including the Medina Community Band.

2003 – “European Polka,” composer Edmund J. Siennicki.  Written and donated to Marcus L. Neiman, conductor, Medina Community Band, without a dedication.  While the polka was written in 2003, it was not performed until July 8^th, 2005 as part of that season’s summer concerts.

2001 – “Legacy Concert March,” composer Edmund J. Siennicki.  Written and donated to Marcus L. Neiman, conductor, Medina Community Band, by Siennicki, without a dedication.  First performed on the summer concert of July 13^th, 2001.

1994 – “A Flower for Theresa,” composer Edmund J. Siennicki. Commissioned by Marcus L. Neiman and performed by both Medina Community Band and the Medina County Schools Junior High School Honors Band. 

The composition was written in memory of Theresa Strekely, a member of the Medina County Schools Junior High School Fair Honors Band.  The work was published by Ludwig Music Company in 1994.  The ballad was first performed by Medina Community Band in a concert at Highland High School on March 2^nd, 1991, in manuscript.

1994 – “Reflection,” commissioned by Marcus L. Neiman, conductor, Medina Community Band, and composed by Edmund J. Siennicki in memory of Eugene Wind Sr. on February 2^nd, 1994 in a concert at Bay Village High School by Medina Community Band.

Reflections (1994) in memory of Gene Wind Sr, and played first by MCB in February of 1994.  

1989 – “MP March” (“Macaulary March”), composer Edmund J. Siennicki.  Commissioned by Marcus L. Neiman and performed by both Medina Community Band and the Medina County School Junior High School Honors Band. 

The composition was written in memory of a student trombone player who played in the Medina County Schools Junior High School Honors Band and was killed in a traffic accident. 

1984 – “Patty-Cake for Band”, composer Edmund J. Siennicki, Shawnee Press

1991 – “Medina March”, concert march, composer Corwin Taylor

Neiman and Taylor never actually met in person; however, carried on a long email and phone friendship for many years.  Taylor, who had a number of compositions and arrangements, had a march that remained without title and dedicated it to Neiman and Medina Community Band in 1991.