The main season is a summer outdoor concert series starting with Memorial Day and continuing with Sunday Serenades & Musical Mondays The band also performs its annual Holiday 2011 concert at Powell Symphony Hall. The Band is pictured at right in Tower Grove Park. (Photo by L.T.Spence, Post-Dispatch) The Band featured guest artists including Gina Galati, Nicole Cabell, Soprano, Gail & Bill Lennon, Mike Cathcart, Hugh Smith, Robert Ellison, and Beverly Stewart-Anderson. Many instrumental soloists have appeared such as trumpeters Arturo Sandoval and Doc Severensen; pianist, Peter Nero; marimba artist Debbye Turner; oboist, Alex Klein; clarinetist, Ricardo Morales; and many more. Featured ensembles have been The ReBirth Brass Band!, PROJECT Trio!, Canadian Brass; Sukay, Music of the Andes; Clarion Brass, Holiday Saxes, Los Compadres Mariachi, Buckwheat Zydeco, and the Carl & Mason T. Capps. The Compton Heights Band has also featured unusual instruments including the theremin (Dr. Robert Froehner), glass armonica (Carolinn Skyler) and organ with Cameron Carpenter! There's always something exciting to hear each year!
The Band rehearses year-round in the former Immaculate Conception Catholic Church at Lafayette & Longfellow. See Built St. Louis for photos of this beautiful facility.
Memorial Day Concert in Tower Grove Park!
The 2011 Summer Series: Sunday Serenades & Musical Mondays
The Compton Heights Band is on Facebook!
Kitty Swanger (wife of President and Founder, Harry Swanger) is in charge. Go to the Facebook Page and interact!
The Band was founded in 1976 by Harry Swanger, President and Bassoonist. The Band is conducted by professional conductor Edward Dolbashian. The Band appeared on its own TV show "Sunrise Serenades" which aired for a year on KMOV-TV, CBS Affiliate with Harry Swanger and the band mascot, Moosic! The band concert experience has been expressed to the public through music, words, and even by a plein air painter, BillyO ! To read a vivid description of a summer concert, see The Sounds of Summer, written by Robert E. Knittel.
The Riverfront Times named Compton Heights Concert Band - Best Entertainment Value on a Hot Summer Evening.
Jim Sparks, Photographer
