Northshore Concert Band
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The Northshore Concert Band (NCB) is a 100-member
concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...
based in
Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...
which performs throughout the
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
metropolitan area.


History

NCB was founded in 1956 and led for 40 years by the late John P. Paynter, who was director of bands at Northwestern University, an accomplished arranger, and president of many band organizations, including the
Midwest Clinic The Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference is the world's largest instrumental music education conference, annually drawing approximately 17,000 attendees to Chicago from all 50 states and as many as forty countries. It is he ...
and the
American Bandmasters Association The American Bandmasters Association (ABA) was formed in 1929 by Edwin Franko Goldman to promote concert band music.Raoul F. Camus. "American Bandmasters Association." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/sub ...
. Highlights of NCB's history include performance and clinician appearances at the annual Midwest Clinic in Chicago, performing with the
Chicago Symphony Chorus The Chicago Symphony Chorus began on September 22, 1957, when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) announced that Margaret Hillis would organize and train a symphony chorus. The music director Fritz Reiner's original intent was to utilize the choru ...
at Orchestra Hall, and many appearances at band festivals and conferences throughout the United States and Europe. Additional highlights include performances with internationally renowned guest artists including
Dale Clevenger Dale Clevenger (July 2, 1940 – January 5, 2022) was an American musician who was the Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1966 until his retirement in June, 2013.
,
Larry Combs Larry Combs (born December 31, 1939) is an American clarinetist and educator. Early life and education Combs was born in South Charleston, West Virginia. He received a bachelor of music degree with distinction as well as the Performer's Certifi ...
, Adolph Herseth,
John Houseman John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann; September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988) was a Romanian-born British-American actor and producer of theatre, film, and television. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director ...
,
Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...
,
Allen Vizzutti Allen Vizzutti (born September 13, 1952) is an American trumpeter, composer and music educator. Biography Born and raised in Missoula, Montana, Vizzutti learned the trumpet from his father, Lido Vizzutti. At age 16, Vizzutti won the concerto co ...
, and
William Warfield William Caesar Warfield (January 22, 1920 – August 25, 2002) was an American concert bass-baritone singer and actor, known for his appearances in stage productions, Hollywood films, and television programs. A prominent African American artist ...
. Performances with prominent guest conductors have included
Harry Begian Dr. Harry Begian (1921-2010) was an American band director, composer and arranger. Begian taught at both the secondary and collegiate level during his career. Early life Begian was born in Michigan to Armenian immigrants on April 24, 1921. The i ...
,
Eugene Migliaro Corporon Eugene Migliaro Corporon is an American conductor, known for his work with wind ensembles and is a scholar of wind / band music repertoire. He is co-editor of two literature catalogs, Wind Ensemble/Band Repertoire (1984) and Wind Ensemble Litera ...
,
Frederick Fennell Frederick Fennell (July 2, 1914 – December 7, 2004) was an internationally recognized conductor and one of the primary figures in promoting the Eastman Wind Ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and grea ...
,
Donald Hunsberger Donald Hunsberger (born August 2, 1932 in Souderton, Pennsylvania) is an American conductor and arranger. He served as the conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble from 1965 until 2001. He also held the position of Professor of conducting at the Eas ...
,
Karel Husa Karel Husa (August 7, 1921 – December 14, 2016) was a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Music and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. In 1954, he emigrated to t ...
, and
H. Robert Reynolds H. Robert Reynolds is an American musician, conductor and academic. He is currently the principal conductor of the Wind Ensemble at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, where he holds the H. Robert Reynolds Pro ...
. NCB performs several concerts a year in the Chicago metropolitan area which include a subscription concert series at Northwestern University's Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, educational outreach programs at area schools, many summer concerts at the invitation of various communities and venues, and professional band festivals and conferences. The band has toured in Canada and Europe and extensively throughout the United States. In 2001, NCB was the first band from the United States invited to perform at the Festival des Anches d’Azur in La Croix Valmer, France. In 2012, the band returned to Europe and performed in Switzerland and Germany on a joint venture with Blasorchester Niederschopfheim, a German community wind band with a 100-year history. NCB musical leadership is provided by artistic director, Dr. Mallory Thompson, and Assistant Conductor, Daniel J. Farris. Dr. Thompson first conducted the Northshore Concert Band in April 1999 and was named principal guest conductor that same season. In 2003, Dr. Thompson accepted an expanded role as NCB Artistic Director.


Leadership

Throughout its history, NCB has promoted the development of community bands. This has been accomplished through performances, recordings, the sponsorship of three adult band conferences, and publication of ''The Community Band: A Manual of Organization and Operation'', which has been used to start or improve many community bands in the United States. In 1987, the NCB became the first recipient of the Sudler Silver Scroll Award from the
John Philip Sousa Foundation The John Philip Sousa Foundation is a non-profit foundation dedicated to the promotion of band music internationally. The foundation administers a number of projects and awards supporting high quality band performance, conducting, and composition ...
. The Sudler Scroll recognizes and honors those community bands that have demonstrated particularly high standards of excellence in concert activities over a period of several years, and which have played a significant and leading role in the cultural and musical environment in their respective communities. In November 2003, Meredith Music published a history of NCB entitled ''On the Path to Excellence: The Northshore Concert Band—Paynter, Buehlman and Beyond''. Researched and written by Dr. William Carson of Coe College, the book provides a detailed historical record and analysis of the band's first 36 years.


Commissions and Recordings

As a supporter of new music for wind band NCB has commissioned ten works during its history. NCB has also released ten recordings on CD, seven studio recordings and three live recordings from the annual Midwest Clinic. In 2011, Chicago classical radio station,
WFMT WFMT is an FM broadcasting, FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of fine arts, classical music programming, and shows exploring such genres as folk music, folk. The station is managed by Window to the World Communications, In ...
, broadcast two programs of live performances from NCB's concert series at
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall Pick-Staiger Concert Hall is a concert hall on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The hall was donated by hotel executive Albert Pick Jr. and his brother-in-law Charles Staiger, and named for Corinne Frada Pick, Pick's ...
.


Commissions

* ''Symphonic March'' on an English Hymn Tune -
Claude T. Smith Claude Thomas Smith (March 14, 1932 – December 13, 1987) was an American band conductor, composer, and music educator. His compositions include ''Flight'', adopted as the "Official March" of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian I ...
(1984) * ''Capriccio'' for saxophone quartet and band -
Warren Barker Warren Barker (April 16, 1923 – August 3, 2006) was an American composer, arranger, and conductor known for work in film, radio, and television, as well as for original band and symphonic compositions. Education He attended the University ...
(1988) * Symphony No. 7 "''Mythologies''" - James F. Hopkins (1989) * ''Four Brothers'' -
Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...
/John Tatgenhorst (1992) * ''All Pleasant Things'' - James Barnes (1997) * ''Symphonic Prelude'' -
Mark Camphouse Mark Camphouse (born 1954 in Oak Park, Illinois) is an Americans, American composer and conductor who has written primarily for concert band, symphonic band, but whose output also includes works for orchestra, choir and chamber brass. A product o ...
(2006) * ''Duo Concertante'' for Clarinet and Percussion - Michael Burritt (2006) * ''Nitro'' -
Frank Ticheli Frank Ticheli (born January 21, 1958) is an American composer of orchestral, choral, chamber, and concert band works. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is a Professor of Composition at the University of Southern California. He was ...
(2006) * ''Windy City Overture'' -
Johan de Meij Johannes Abraham "Johan" de Meij (; born November 23, 1953 in Voorburg) is a Dutch conductor, trombonist, and composer, best known for his '' Symphony No. 1'' for wind ensemble, nicknamed ''The Lord of the Rings'' symphony. Biography Johan de ...
(2006) * ''Let the Amen Sound'' - Travis Cross (2012) * ''Zero to Sixty!'' - Michael Martin (2015)


Recordings

* ''Sleigh Ride'' (1986) * ''Stars and Stripes'': Music for a Summer Evening (1994) * ''European Tradition'' (1996) * ''The Paynter Years'' (1996) * ''American Emblems'' (1999) * ''Mythologies'' (1999) * ''2001 Midwest Clinic'': Northshore Concert Band (2001) * ''From Broadway to Hollywood'' (2002) * ''2005 Midwest Clinic'': Northshore Concert Band (2005) * ''2011 Midwest Clinic'': Northshore Concert Band (2011)


Educational Outreach

NCB is the co-sponsor of the Northshore Concert Band/Northwestern University Festival of Music. Started in 1977, the festival has been held annually over a three-day period in March on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The band's members serve as adjudicators and clinicians for this solo, ensemble, and band festival, which has attracted over 3,500 young musicians annually. NCB has performed several educational outreach programs at area schools, many summer concerts at the invitation of various communities and venues, and professional band festivals and conferences. In 2003, NCB started its ''Lifetime of Music'' program, inviting dozens of Chicago-area high school musicians to perform with the band at its Winter subscription concert in February. NCB also awards the ''John P. Paynter Scholarship'', which provides financial assistance toward an outstanding high school musician's college education and the opportunity to solo with the band.


Former Music Directors

* John P. Paynter (1956-1996) * Dr. Stephen Peterson (1996-1998) * Dr. John Lynch (1999-2002) * Dr. Lawrence Stoffel (2002-2003) * Dr. Richard Fischer (2003-2005)


Further reading


Interview with John P. Paynter
March 15, 1993


References

American instrumental musical groups Musical groups established in 1956 Musical groups from Illinois Concert bands Wind bands 1956 establishments in Illinois {{US-band-stub