Brass Band of Battle Creek Astounding

Who needs those annoying strings and woodwinds anyway?

At its Saturday night concert, the Brass Band of Battle Creek filled the W.K. Kellogg Auditorium with full concert sound and left us wanting for absolutely nothing... except maybe a program.

The Band played to a capacity crowd, so large, in fact, that there were not enough programs to go around

The audience did not let the oversight dampen its enthusiasm for the first-rate collection of musicians, taken from all over the country and, in fact, the world.

With only one member from Battle Creek, 13 from around the state, and the remainder coming from as far away as England, one can only wonder what brought these fine musicians together claiming the name of our fair town as their own.

From the opening selection of the Introduction of Act 3 from Wagner's Lohengrin , the Brass Band of Battle Creek commanded our full attention, not simply because of its sheer force, but due to the mastery and depth of the repertoire displayed throughout the evening.

This, as conductor Richard Evans explained, was after only a few hours of rehearsal together. Astounding!

From the standard classical fare, such as selections from Bizet's Carmen and Holst's The Planet s, to Gershwin's I Got Rhythm and Bernstein's Tonight from West Side Story , Evans ensured that few would go away dissatisfied.

Evans could be classified as a master entertainer, sharing humorous anecdotes with the audience throughout the evening.           

His conducting was animated and engaging throughout the evening, but never detracted from his obvious passion for the music and musicians under his baton, Bravo.

Evans again demonstrated his mastery of entertainment as, for a third encore, he brought out Celtic dancers while the band performed music from the musical review Riverdance.   

As the conclusion of the lilting piece the audience jumped to its feet, with just one demand.   They wanted more.

In classic showmanship and over deafening applause, Evans said simply, "Good night."

And that, dear friends, was an understatement.