Marching in Arcata with the Humboldt Bay Brass Band

The 28 players of the Humboldt Bay Brass Band performs classics, new compositions and another newly discovered and arranged march by the legendary Humboldt County bandmaster Professor Frank Flowers, on Saturday, November 1 at Fulkerson Recital Hall.

From the sheet music trove that made its way from a Seattle apartment building to the Humboldt County Historical Society and then to Gil Cline, conductor of the Brass Band, comes another lost composition by Professor Frank Flowers, the Eureka High School band director in the 1920s and 30s. Last fall the Brass Band presented Cline’s arrangement of “Redwood Highway March.” This year, the Band plays Cline’s arrangement of Flowers’ march, “My Friend in Arcata,” in honor of Arcata’s 150th anniversary.

The first half of the concert also features the classic “Poet and Peasant Overture” by 19th century composer Franz von Suppe and "Um Bom Tambour" (One Good Drum) by Band member and local composer, Gregg Moore.

The second half begins with music familiar to many from its years as a theme for network broadcasts of the Olympic Games: “Bugler’s Dream” by French-American composer Leo Arnaud, as arranged by Gil Cline for Brass Band.

Then the Band presents the premiere performance of ”Tower Bells and Brass in the Firmament,” an original composition by Gil Cline, who described it as a “soundscape” of bells in all directions. Featured are chimes, orchestra bell and celesta, as well as brass.

Ending the concert is the classic, "Crown Imperial" by British composer William Walton, written originally for the coronation of King George VI in 1937, and featured again in 1953 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Humboldt Bay Brass Band, an HSU Music Department ensemble, is the only traditional brass band in northwest California. It performs on Saturday, November 1 at 8 p.m. in the Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus in Arcata. Tickets are $7 general, $3 students/seniors, from the HSU Ticket Office (826-3928) or at the door. Free to HSU students with ID.