Just Hear Those Sleigh Bells Jingle-ing

The Solano Winds Community Concert Band has a concert on December 6. Here are the details:

The Solano Winds Community Concert Band will be “Celebrating America’s Heritage” on December 6 at the Downtown Theatre in Fairfield. Tickets are $17 per person; $13 for seniors and students. 

The brass and percussion herald the beginning of the concert with Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copeland. The four minute piece presents a moving salute to the everyday man in our society.  

The Winds follow up with Fantasia on British Sea Songs by Henry J. Wood. He wrote the medley of British sea songs in 1905 to mark the centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar.
The toe tapping and smiles are amplified with Malcom Arnold’s Four Scottish Dances. Composed early in 1957, and dedicated to the BBC Light Music Festival.   

In 1891, at the age of seventeen, Charles Ives composed Variations on “America” for organ, based on the old national hymn, known overseas as “God Save the Queen. He played with the variations by filling them with  misplaced fanfares and tongue-in-cheek solemnity.  

The Pathfinder of Panama March, a contribution from John Philip Sousa, commemorates the opening of the Panama Canal.  

While the first half of the concert has us tapping our toes and giggling at clever melodic jokes, the second half of the evening has us singing along with Blues for Santa Arranged by Robert W. Smith.  

President of Solano Winds, Ron Garrison brings the wonder of the season with ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Garrison draws a verbal picture of the magic of the season.Sammy Nestico jazzes up Good King Wenceslas of old and literally gives the carol an upbeat feel with Good Swing Wenceslas.  

The concert closes with Leroy Anderson’s A Christmas Festival and Sleigh Ride. Listen carefully and you’ll hear the clip clop and whinny of the horse pulling the sleigh punctuated with the crack of the horse whip.