LCCC concert to celebrate Armed Forces service members

CHEYENNE, Wyoming – A patriotic concert to thank those who have served in the United States Armed Forces is coming to Laramie County Community College this month.

Honoring Our Veterans, a concert featuring the Cheyenne Brass Band and LCCC Wind Ensemble, is set for 3 p.m. Nov. 10 in the Surbrugg/Prentice Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public.

The concert will feature everything from light-hearted patriotic marches, the drama of battle in musical storytelling to the familiar American anthems fitting to the holiday. Frank Cook, LCCC music instructor, said it’s a delightful concert to put together each year because of its meaning for the community.

“This concert features all patriotic music, much of which directly reflects the sacrifices veterans have made for our country and the advancement of democracy,” Cook said. “With so many active service members and veterans in our community, we look forward to performing this tribute.”

The Wind Ensemble will open with John Williams's "Midway March," inspired by the 1976 film “Midway” about the Battle of Midway. Next, the ensemble will perform “Irving Berlin's Songs for America,” a medley arranged by James Swearingen, featuring four of Berlin's most beloved patriotic songs. Two marches will follow: the recently premiered “Savannah!: A Quasi March,” commissioned by LCCC’s Wind Ensemble, composed by Nancy Williams, and John Philip Sousa’s “The Black Horse Troop,” originally premiered in December 1924 for the Ohio National Guard. Will Jones, a retired United States Air Force Band euphonium soloist who now resides in Cheyenne, will perform a piece titled "Across the Clouds," which was specially composed by Robert Thurston for Jones during his time with the band in Washington, D.C. “On a Hymsong of Philip Bliss,” based on the beloved Bliss hymn “It is Well With My Soul,” will follow before the ensemble closes with Sousa’s “The Washington Post March.”

The brass band’s performance will open with the National Anthem, followed by the Scott Joplin waltz “Pleasant Moments.” The first movement of the “Suite of American Overtures,” arranged by Stephen Bulla and recognizing the nation and its eastern states, will come next. A new arrangement by Ron Swim of the American spiritual tune “Deep River” will be included before the show closes with the “Armed Forces Salute” medley and the patriotic classic “Stars and Stripes Forever.” 

For more information on the events and LCCC’s music programs, contact Dr. Frank Cook at fcookFREELARAMIE or 307.778.1306.