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NEGAUNEE -- Director Lucas Wickstrom has chosen a program in celebration of local history and composers for this week's Negaunee City Band concert to be presented at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Outdoor Performing Arts Center at the east end of Iron Street.
Both Negaunee and Ishpeming are celebrating 150 years of being chartered as cities.
The band will play "Iron Town March" and "Superiorland March" by Republic native and longtime Marquette resident, Eino Olander, who was a great fan of the Negaunee City Band. Another march by a local composer is Phil Sarvello's "The Spirit of '23," dedicated to Ishpeming High School's graduates of that year.
A special feature of the program is the world premiere of local composer and former Negaunee City Band director Brandon Nelson's "The City Built on the Shining Hill," which he has dedicated to his hometown of Ishpeming. Another Nelson composition celebrating our area is "Sawyer Heritage."
"Cha Cha for Band" is by Glen Osser, Munising native, University of Michigan graduate, and nationally known composer. The band will also perform "Suomi," a medley of Finnish songs and dances, by Finnish-American composer, O. E. Swanson.
Going further afield, the band plays "Great Lakes Overture" and "The United States Steel Suite," the only piece of music copyrighted by the US Steel Corporation." The concert concludes with Karl L. King's "Michigan on Parade March" as well as "Just a Closer Walk with Thee."