June 25, 2012 — The Band Camp for Adult Musicians at Allegheny College will present a free gala concert at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 29, in the college’s Shafer Auditorium.
Two sessions of Band Camp for Adult Musicians – with a concert at the end of each session — are held each summer on the Allegheny campus. Friday’s concert ends the second session.
Returning as the conductor of the Week II Concert Band is Colonel Timothy Foley, USMC, who retired in 2004 as the director of the U.S. Marine Band, known as “The President’s Own,” considered by many to be the most prestigious post for any military musician in the world. As director of the Marine Band, Foley served as music advisor to the White House and regularly conducted the band at the Executive Mansion. During his time as director, the band celebrated its 200th birthday and was the only musical organization to be inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.
The soloist for Friday’s concert will be the principal of the Adult Band’s oboe section, Robyn Dixon Costa, who plays oboe and English horn with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also an associate musician with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and second oboist with the Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra.
A member of the music faculty at Penn State University, Bloomsburg University and Juniata College, Costa will perform “The Winter’s Passed” by Howard Barlow, based on two Appalachian mountain folksongs.
The remainder of the program will be selected from the 32 works that the Band Camp has been playing this week. These include a mix of overtures, transcriptions from the orchestral literature, original works for band, lighter numbers and marches by both European and American composers, including John Philip Sousa.
Band campers come to Allegheny College each year from as far away as Florida and California. Many campers return year after year – for the music, for the chance to play for an outstanding conductor and for the camaraderie. The camp has even resulted in a few marriages that have grown out of a mutual love for band music.
Band Camp participants sometimes include whole families. Robyn Dixon Costa’s husband, Anthony, is the camp’s principal clarinetist; her mother, Barb Janke, plays in the bassoon section; and Barb Janke’s husband, Vernon, will be in the percussion section.
More information about the concert or about Band Camp for Adult Musicians is available from the Office of Conference and Events at Allegheny College, 814-332-3101.
