Summer Season 2019 – June 7 – Opener

Medina Community Band will begin the 2019 summer season, a celebration of 160 years (since 1859) of presenting community concerts in Medina, on Friday, June 7, 2019, in Medina’s Uptown Park Square Gazebo.  Concerts will continue every Friday through Friday, July 26.  A special July 4 concert is planned as well.  There will be no concert on Friday, July 5.  All concerts will begin at 8:30p.

Cancellations of concerts, due to the weather, will be posted on the home page of the website.  Individuals who have signed up for the ‘fan newsletter’ will be sent an email newsletter announcing any cancellation.

The opening concert will feature Mary Ann Grof-Neiman, clarinet, performing Vittorio Monti’s Csárdás and Denise Milner Howell, mezzo-soprano, singing Rudolph Sieczynski’s Vienna, City of My Dreams and George Gershwin’s By Strauss, from his Broadway Music The Show Is On.

Medina City Council member James Shields will be on hand to welcome the audience on behalf of the City of Medina.  The ice cream social host for the evening will be Salvation Army of Medina.

Sue McLaughlin and Amy Muhl, flutes, will perform Kurt Gäble’s Celtic Flutes.  A trumpet quartet, composed of Lu Ann Gresh, Jeff Danilovic, Lorna Lindsley, and Marcia Nelson Kline will perform Harold Walter’s Trumpet Filigree.

Under Neiman’s baton, Medina Community Band will perform Bernstein’s Slava! Overture; and, John Williams March of the Resistance from Star Wars – The Force Awakens.  Associate Conductor John Connors will conduct Claudio Grafulla’s march Washington Grays and Sousa’s Esprit De Corps. 

Concerts by the Medina Community Band traditionally last approximately one hour and are patterned after outdoor band concerts in the 1880s through 1930s.  They feature concert overtures, solos by instrumentalists and vocalists, as well as popular selections, and lots and lots of marches. 

Area social and civic groups will be featured as summer social hosts providing light refreshments at a reasonable donation during each concert. 

• • June 14 – United Church of Christ, Congregational
  • June 21 – Boy Scouts of America Troop 514
  • June 28 – Medina County Historical Society
  • July 4 – Medina Breakfast Kiwanis Club
  • July 12 – Medina High School Band Boosters
  • July 19 – Medina  Lions Club
  • July 26 – Medina Creative Housing.

Medina Community Band is proudly sponsored and supported by the Medina Community Band Association, composed of members of Medina Community Band.  The board of directors consists of Lu Ann Gresh, president; Amy Muhl, vice president; Gail Sigmund, financial secretary; Karen Sater, treasurer; Sue McLaughlin, secretary; with directors John Connors, Dr. Thomas Kenat, Robert Moore, and Kristin Thompson. 

Membership in MCB is open and there are no dues or auditions; however, members are expected to maintain a regular attendance.  The band rehearses on Wednesday evening from 7p – 9p in the orchestra room of Medina High School (777 East Union Street, Medina) during June and July; and September through the end of May rehearsing in the band room of Highland Middle School (3880 Ridge Road, Medina).  The band also presents their popular summer series every Friday, June through July, in Medina’s Uptown Park Gazebo.  Each year the band presents at a winter concert, spring concert, and the popular “Sousa Concert” at EHOVE Career Center (Milan, OH).  For additional information on the 2019 concert season or Medina Community Band, contact Neiman at 330.725.8198 or MarcusNeiman@medinacommunityband.org.

Soloists

Mary Ann Grof-Neiman, clarinet soloist

Mary Ann Grof-Neiman, clarinet, received her bachelor of science in music education degree from the Bowling Green State University. Ms. Grof-Neiman has served as principal clarinetist with the Sounds of Sousa Band and as clarinetist for the Blossom Festival Band, the Cleveland Winds, Lakeland Civic Band, Lakeside Symphony Orchestra, Youngstown Symphony, Chagrin Falls Studio Orchestra and Erie Philharmonic. She currently performs with the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra, Lakewood Home Town Band, Akron Symphonic Winds and Medina Community Band, where she serves as band librarian. She maintains private studios at Baldwin Wallace University Community Music School as well as her home in Medina. She has served the Ohio Music Education Association as a Woodwind Adjudicator for over 30 years and is a member of AFM Local 4. She resides in Medina with her husband Marcus and their cat Dmitri.

Denise Milner-Howell, mezzo-soprano soloist

Denise Milner Howell, mezzo-soprano, is a versatile performer of opera, concerts, and recitals, whose singing has been called “superb” (Cleveland Classical).  Ms. Howell’s solo engagements include performances with Cleveland Opera Theater, Opera Cleveland, Chautauqua Opera, Kent/Blossom Festival, Nightingale Opera Theatre, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Akron Lyric Opera Theatre, Akron Baroque, Tanglewood Festival, Carousel Dinner Theatre, and Buffalo Philharmonic. 

Recent performances include leading roles in Little Women (Meg), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Mother), Carmen (Mercédès), La cambiale di matrimonio (Clara), Robert Ward’s The Crucible (Rebecca Nurse), and Iolanthe (Celia). A frequent concert soloist, Ms. Howell has performed the alto solos in Handel’s Messiah, Mozart Requiem, Bach Magnificat, Haydn Lord Nelson Mass, Verdi Requiem, Vivaldi Gloria and Duruflé Requiem. Additionally, Ms. Howell is committed to the performance of new works by living composers, and has been heard at Cleveland Ingenuity Festival and New to New York Concert Series.

In addition to performing, Ms. Howell is an active voice teacher.  She currently teaches at Cleveland Institute of Music/Case Western Reserve University, and Kent State University Hugh A. Glauser School of Music. She lives in Sharon Township, Ohio with her husband, Gregg, and their three children.

Amy Muhl & Sue McLaughlin, flute soloists

Sue McLaughlin (photo above right) has been a member of the Medina Community Band since 1994 and is a former flute student of Deidre McGuire.  While in school, she was a member of the band, orchestra, and jazz band, playing clarinet and saxophone.  In addition to playing flute and piccolo in the Medina Community Band, Sue has also performed with Marcus Neiman and The Sounds of Sousa Band, Symphony West Orchestra, Medina Show Biz, St. Paul Lutheran Church orchestra, St. Paul Lutheran Celebration Worship Team, the Western Star Flute Choir and several other area churches.  She is retired from 24 years with Southwest General Health Center.  Sue lives in Medina with her two cats, Truffles and Kokopelli. She has a married daughter and two wonderful grandsons!  She is section leader for the flute section, media/public relations contact for the band and secretary of the Medina Community Band Association.

Amy Muhl (photo above left) has been a member of Medina Community Band since 1998.  Originally from Lyme, Connecticut, moved to Ohio to study music education at Oberlin Conservatory in 1991.  She graduated in 1995 and taught orchestra for two years in the Willard City Schools.  Amy received her masters of music education from Kent State University on a scholarship, in 1998.  She then taught instrumental music at Buckeye High School, in Medina (OH) and in the fall of 1999, became the elementary band teacher for Buckeye Local Schools.  In the fall of 2001, she began teaching elementary instrumental music at Central Intermediate School in the Wadsworth City Schools.  Amy also plays flute/piccolo and piano and teaches private lessons, in addition to being a member of Medina Community Band and Sounds of Sousa Band.  She is also treasurer of the Medina Community Band Association.  Amy resides in Wadsworth with her husband Frank, and three children Kenneth, Eva and Simon.

Lu Ann Gresh, Lorna Lindsley, Jeff Danilovic, and Kevin Wallick, trumpet quartet soloist

 Jeff Danilovic, cornet, is a registered nurse with 16 years’ experience in Cardiothoracic Intensive Care and Home Care nursing, where he has held the role of Nurse Manager for the last 10 years.  He earned an Associates Degree in Nursing from Cuyahoga Community College and a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Ohio University.  Prior to his career in nursing, Jeff studied music education at The Ohio State University where he participated in various ensembles including the Trumpet Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, and The Ohio State University Marching Band.  Jeff, and his wife Colleen, reside in Medina, Ohio with their children Caitlin, Connor, and Molly.  He joined the Medina Community Band in 2018.

Lu Ann Gresh, cornet, is a retired elementary music specialist with 36 years of experience. She has both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in music education from The University of Akron. She has taught for the Revere City Schools, Highland Local Schools, Clark County Schools in Las Vegas, Nevada, and most recently Wadsworth City Schools. She taught preschool music and adult beginning piano classes at The University of Akron. Lu Ann and her husband, Paul, reside in Wadsworth, Ohio. She has two children, Jonathan and Kelsey. She has been a member of the Medina Community Band since 1997. She also plays in the Sounds of Sousa Band, and is a member of the Brass Band of the Western Reserve. Lu Ann currently serves as the trumpet section leader. She is president of the Medina Community Band Association.

Lorna Lindsley, cornet, earned her Nursing degree from The Huron Road School of Nursing. She worked as a registered nurse at The Cleveland Clinic South Pointe Hospital in their Step Down Unit. She performed with The Bluecoats and Garfield Cadets Drum and Bugle Corp over a span of seven years and continues to be active with their alumni groups playing several concerts a year. Lorna lives in Medina with her husband Sam and their three children Bella, Sydney and Emerson. She joined the Medina Community Band in 2017.

Marcia Nelson Kline*  Copley resident Marcia Nelson Kline began her trumpet studies with parents Milton and Sarah Nelson, Lloyd Haines, and further advanced her studies with Harry Herforth and James Darling.  She is a member of Medina Community Band (since 1984) and Brass Band of the Western Reserve (since 1997) and has performed with Marcus Neiman’s Sound of Sousa Band, Mill Street Brass Quintet, and Cleveland Women’s Orchestra.  She is featured as a cornet soloist on Medina Community Band’s CD “Sounds of Summer”.  Marcia has an associate degree in medical assisting from The University of Akron and is employed by Cleveland Clinic as an ophthalmic technician.  (as of 17 05 09)

* Marcia Nelson Kline will replace Kevin Wallick on this evening’s program.

19 MCB Summer Program Play List – June 7th Final as of 19 06 07

19 MCB Summer Program Notes – June 7th FINAL as of 19 06 07a