Summer Season 2019 – July 26 – Best of Season

Medina Community Band will present the final concert of the 2019 summer season, a celebration of 160 years (since 1859) of presenting community concerts in Medina, on Friday, July 26, 2019, in Medina’s Uptown Park Square Gazebo.  All concerts will begin at 8:30p.

Cancellation of concerts will be posted on the website as soon as the decision has been made.  A “fan newsletter” will be sent to those individuals who have signed up to receive the newsletter.

The evening’s concert is dedicated to the memory of Medina Community Band member Sarah Nelson.

The ice cream social for July 12 will be sponsored by The Medina Creative Housing.

Under the baton of Marcus Neiman, the band will perform Seventeen Come Sunday (from English Folk Song Suite) by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Hume’s march The Elephant March, Richard’s march Emblem of Unity, John Hazel’s Buick March, and, John Philip Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever.

The featured vocal soloist for the evening will be Daniel Doty, tenor voice soloist for the evening, who will sing Puccini’s Nessun Dorma (“Nobody Sleeps”) (from Turandot) and Verdi’s La Donna è Mobile (“Women are Fickle”) (from Rigoletto).  Paul Rocco, flugelhorn, who will perform Joaquin Rodrigo’s Adagio (from Concierto De Aranjuez). 

Kristin Thompson, flute, will be featured soloist performing the David Seiberling arrangement of Rossini’s La Pastorella delle Alpi (“The Shepherdess of the Alps”) under the baton of associate conductor John Connors.  Connors will also conduct Robert Nathaniel Dett’s After the Cake Walk and Sousa’s March Esprit De Corps. 

A featured brass sextet will perform Gaetano Donizetti’s Sextet.  Members of the ensemble will be: Lu Ann Gresh and Marcia Nelson-Kline, cornets; George Rosin, Mark Mitchell, and Rodney Hannah, trombones; and, Clayton Van Doren, euphonium.

Concerts by the Medina Community Band traditionally last approximately one hour and are patterned after outdoor band concerts in the 1880s through 1930s and feature concert overtures, solos by instrumentalists and vocalists, as well as popular selections, and lots and lots of marches.  For listings of all concerts, visit the band’s website (www.medinacommunityband.org).

Marcus Neiman conducts Medina Community Band and will be joined in the conducting duties by John Connors (associate conductor) and Matthew Hastings (assistant conductor).

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.

In Memory – Sarah R. Nelson – April 20th, 1922 – March 22th, 2019

Born April 20, 1922 in Akron to Barnett “Barney” and Mary Kodish, she was a graduate of Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University. Sarah was a founding member of the Akron Symphony Orchestra and Festive String Quartet as a violist. She was a longtime member of the Doctor’s Orchestra now known as the Akron Pops Orchestra and played cornet with the Goodyear Band, Medina Community Band and Brass Band of the Western Reserve. She retired from Barberton Citizens Hospital Pathology Lab as a medical transcriptionist.

Preceded in death by her parents; husband of 59 years, Milton; sister, Sylvia DeVries; brother, Daniel Kodish; brother-in-law, Max Nelson; sister-in-law, Elsie Pren; and son-in-law, John Kline, Jr.; she is survived by son, Dr. Richard (Susan) Nelson; daughters, Marcia Kline and Linda (Tim) Brown; grandchildren, Amanda (Robert), Leigh, Kimberly and Sondra; three great-grandsons; brother-in-law, Jim (Joan) Nelson; sisters-in-law, Frieda Gerin and Anna Mae Shepler; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Daniel Doty is a tenor who is equally at home on the opera, theatre or concert stage. He has appeared with the symphonies in Akron (OH), Mansfield (OH), Muncie (IN), Urbana (IL), Marion (OH), and community bands in Medina and Wadsworth (OH). Performances have found him in a variety of settings from church sanctuaries to concert halls, and at such locations as the Celle di Puccini (Puccini summer home) and Severance Hall. In Akron, Daniel has appeared on the stage of Weathervane Playhouse as King Kaspar in “Amahl and the Night Visitors.”

As participant of the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Daniel spent six weeks in the Tuscan village of Lucca (Italy) singing operatic arias at various venues associated with Lucca’s most famous son, Giacomo Puccini.

Mr. Doty has appeared in Master Classes with such Metropolitan Opera stars as Martina Arroyo and Angela Brown. A past Guest Artist with the Masterworks Festival, Daniel worked with David Geier, Assistant Conductor for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mr. Doty holds a Bachelor of Music Education Degree from Bowling Green State University. He is also an ordained minister and holds a Master of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, IL. Currently Daniel is Senior Minister at The Bath Church, United Church of Christ in Akron, Ohio, Mr. Doty lives in Wadsworth with his wife Amy and is the proud father of Kristian, Sean, and Kaetlyn Doty.

Daniel’s most recent Cleveland area performances were as Spoletta in Tosca with Cleveland Opera Theatre and Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street with KSU Opera Theatre.

In May of 2017 Daniel made his Carnegie Hall debut singing the “Hostias” solo with the Hudson Festival Orchestra and Choir in the Fauré Requiem.

Paul V. Rocco, originally from Brooklyn, New York, studied trumpet at SUNY at Fredonia, later completing a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts Music at the University of Akron. While at The University of Akron, he studied with Tucker Jolly and Scott Johnston, continuing with Geoff Hardcastle after graduation. Rocco moved to Ohio to take the position of police officer for the City of Medina, retiring in 2009 after 20 years of service.  He became a member of Medina Community Band in 1989. He also performs with the Brass Band of the Western Reserve. Rocco is presently teaching private trumpet lessons for Barberton Middle and High Schools, and Green Middle School. He resides in Medina with wife Gayle, son Gary, three rescue dogs and a cat.

Kristin Thompson, flute soloist, is a 2017 graduate of The University of Akron with a Bachelor of Science Degree. in Biomedical Engineering. She works as a Clinical Research Coordinator for her Alma Mater in addition to being a Quality & Production Engineer for Yanke Bionics in downtown Akron. While she has grown up in Medina for 25 of her 26 years, she has spent much time abroad in Spain, Germany, and Italy. She has been devoted to music for over 15 years, beginning on flute in 2002 at age 9 and progressing into piccolo studies. Her principal teachers include Kyra Kester and Heidi Ruby-Kushious. Kristin is a 2012 alumna of Medina High School where she played in Symphony Band and the Medina Marching Band for all four years, the Symphony Orchestra for two, and played in the pit orchestra, in addition to making select appearances with the Medina Choirs. High school solo performances featured Kristin with the Stardusters jazz ensemble as well as the Symphony Orchestra, where she played Vivaldi’s Concerto for Flautino (piccolo). During her high school years, she was also a member of the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, the latter of which offered her performances alongside members of the Cleveland Orchestra flute section. While at The University of Akron, Kristin played in the Concert Band, Flute Choir, and Symphonic Band. Currently, she plays with the Akron Pops Orchestra. She has been a member of the Medina Community Band since 2015 and was recently appointed to the Medina Community Band Association, where she serves as Social Host Chair. 

Brass Sextet

Medina Community Band members performing in the Leonard Smith arrangement of Gaetano Donizetti’s Sextet (from Lucia di Lammermoor) at the EHOVE concert are (from left to right): Lu Ann Gresh and Marcia Kline (cornet); George Rosin, Mark Mitchell, and Rodney Hannah (trombone); and Clayton Van Doren (euphonium).

19 MCB Summer Program Notes – July 26th – as of 19 07 20