We’ll open the winter concert with Vittorio Giannini’s great work for band, his 1958 Symphony No. 3. Harkening back to the Romantic Era, this wonderful work, by turns technically difficult and warmly melodic, will warm your hearts. Next we’ll feature the winner of the MWS annual solo competition for our own members, not yet held. We’ll close with Andrew Boysen’s remarkable Kirkpatrick Fanfare, which morphs magically from those traditional high energy Irish dance sounds into perhaps the most famous Irish ballad of all. The second half will open with Charles Ives’ humorous musical representation of the somewhat inept town bands of his youth, Country Band March, followed by a major 20th century piece, Vincent Persichetti’s masterwork, Masquerade. Then we’ll close with Frank Ticheli’s amazing musical representation of a historic explosion of nature, Vesuvius.