Mercer County Symphonic Band Presents 2019 Spring Concert

The Mercer County Symphonic Band will present its annual Spring Concert on Wednesday, June 12, at 7:30 p.m. at Mercer County Community College's (MCCC) Kelsey Theatre. The theatre is located on the college's West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. Admission is free.

The performance presents a variety of music with transcriptions from works by three Soviet composers, including "The Firebird Suite" by Stravinsky, "The Comedians' Gallop" by Kabalevsky and the "Sabre Dance" by Khachaturian. In contrast, the band will perform marches made famous in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and selections from Spanish composers harkening back to the sounds of matadors and romance. Added drama will be highlighted by the 19th-century "Poet and Peasant Overture."

Other featured selections include swing music from the 1940s will be featured along with some early rock 'n' roll favorites it inspired. The performance concludes with the band's traditional rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever."

In addition to presenting annual winter and spring concerts at the Kelsey Theatre and accompanying functions at the college, the band performs for area retirement communities and at community events. On June 29, the band will perform under the big top at the Circus Celebration in Little Ferry, N.J.

The Mercer County Symphonic Band is in its 39th season, with 63 participating musicians spanning seven decades in age. The band is open to all interested musicians without audition. Rehearsals are Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m., September through June, in the Music Suite on MCCC's West Windsor campus. For more information, visit www.mercerband.org.