Community band presents ‘from opera to broadway’

by Oda Lisa, published in The Wimberley View 4/6/23

Save the date for another free concert presented by the Hill Country Community Band at the Wimberley Community Center, located at 14068 RR 12.

The band’s performance will take place Saturday, April 8, at 4 p.m. One band member described the program titled, From Opera to Broadway, as “a broad sweep across theater experiences.”

“We will perform selections spanning from the 1850 opera Lohengrin, across time to Les Miserables,” HCCB Director Manuel Arambula said.

According to program notes, “Lohengrin is a Romantic opera in three acts, composed and written by Richard Wagner. The ‘Procession’ comes at the end of Act II, when Elsa, a princess in Brabant (Antwerp), is on her way to be married to the knight, whom we later learn is Lohengrin, Knight of the Holy Grail.”

Another operatic selection from the band will be “El Capitan” by John Philip Sousa, whose works are frequently featured by the HCCB.

“First performed in 1896, it relates the story of Don Errico Medigua, who is viceroy of Spanish-occupied sixteenth-century Peru,” the program notes add.

From the Broadway stage, the band will perform soundtrack “Highlights from Les Miserables,” based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel.

“This medley of highlights from the musical includes ‘Look Down,’ ‘At the End of the Day,’ ‘I Dreamed a Dream,’ ‘Master of the House,’ ‘Suddenly,’ and ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’,” the program notes state.

Continuing in the musical theater vein is the performance of “Symphonic Dances” from Fiddler on the Roof. The program notes cited that the 1964 blockbuster Broadway musical won nine Tony awards.

The Hill Country Community Band’s next concert after this week’s performance will be held on Sunday, May 21, at 4 p.m.

The Hill Country Community Band is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose musicians are volunteers from the Central Texas area. To keep up with the band’s concert schedule, to find out how to join or how to donate time or money, visit hillcountrycommunityband.org or follow HCCB on Facebook.