Metro Band fills Horner Center with guests and music

If you haven’t heard the Portland Metro Concert Band, see why audiences flock to this group’s concerts …

The Portland Metro Concert Band features many professional musicians who provide great large-band music that fills the Howard Horner Performing Arts Center at David Douglas High School.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
During the Holidays, the halls of the Howard Horner Performing Arts Center at David Douglas High School rang with music, as the Portland Metro Concert Band took the stage for their 3:00 p.m. concert of great music.

In addition to Christmas selections, the program included a variety of other toe-tapping music.

The show was presented in two halves — the first directed by Jay Burchak; the second by Fev Pratt. Presented were excerpts from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Evita”, and “Phantom of the Opera”; a tribute to Bob Hope including “Thanks for the Memories” and music from his films; “Loudoun Praises”, by contemporary composer Brian Balmages; a Latin rumba; and a classical piece, “Overture in B Flat” by Giovannini.

Of course, it just wouldn’t be a band concert without a couple of rousing marches by Sousa and Fillmore, so they were represented too.

Clem Norton takes a bow for his contemporary arrangement of the holiday classic, “Silver Bells”.

All-volunteer organization
All of the musicians, including the directors, are volunteers. The band is a non-profit organization, and welcomes donations to help defray operating expenses, such as sheet music and rehearsal-space rental.

Now numbering some 40 to 50 musicians, the band includes amateurs as well as musicians who play professionally. Members represent many fields of endeavor, including medicine, education, law enforcement, and computer programming.

Under the baton of co-director Jay Burchak (shown here), and Fev Pratt, the concert band presents both contemporary and classical music.

The band rehearses weekly for 11 months of each year and performs several concerts a year – for schools, retirement centers, churches, and parks.

Keep watching our Community Calendar for the date of their next public concert!

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