Marquette City Band Shell and more!

Dr. Steve Grugin was our guest for a spirited conversation about music making on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We were glad to hear that all is well and thriving for The Marquette City Band as well as Northern Michigan University Bands where Dr. Grugin is experiencing his first year of retirement as Director of Bands. He has continued to be the professor of Low Brass at NMU, Director of the NMU Alumni Band and Director of The Marquette City Band.

Dr. Grugin’s building of all of these organizations over the last few decades has been very impressive. But, consistent with his proven drive to build excellence, he is in the midst of another kind of building project, raising funds to replace the “decommissioned” Marquette Bandshell at scenic Presque Isle located on the shores of Lake Superior. The links to help with that project are below. Congratulations to Dr. Grugin on his retirement and outstanding career accomplishments! And, thank you for being an entertaining guest! “Just keep on playin”! But, we hope he “works harder” on also enjoying some well earned downtime during retirement!

To help with contributions to the Peg Hirvonen Bandshell project either mail a check to: Marquette City Band, P.O. Box 701 (please write “BAND SHELL” and the name to be used for recognition on the memo line) or use the link below. The Marquette City Band is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible as allowable by law

https://mqtcompass.com/band-shell/

Any other questions can be directed to Dr. Grugin via email: sgrugin@yahoo.com

Marquette City Band Shell and more!

Dr. Steve Grugin was our guest for a spirited conversation about music making on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We were glad to hear that all is well and thriving for The Marquette City Band as well as Northern Michigan University Bands where Dr. Grugin is experiencing his first year of retirement as Director of Bands. He has continued to be the professor of Low Brass at NMU, Director of the NMU Alumni Band and Director of The Marquette City Band.

Dr. Grugin’s building of all of these organizations over the last few decades has been very impressive. But, consistent with his proven drive to build excellence, he is in the midst of another kind of building project, raising funds to replace the “decommissioned” Marquette Bandshell at scenic Presque Isle located on the shores of Lake Superior. The links to help with that project are below. Congratulations to Dr. Grugin on his retirement and outstanding career accomplishments! And, thank you for being an entertaining guest! “Just keep on playin”! But, we hope he “works harder” on also enjoying some well earned downtime during retirement!

To help with contributions to the Peg Hirvonen Bandshell project either mail a check to: Marquette City Band, P.O. Box 701 (please write “BAND SHELL” and the name to be used for recognition on the memo line) or use the link below. The Marquette City Band is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible as allowable by law

https://mqtcompass.com/band-shell/

Any other questions can be directed to Dr. Grugin via email: sgrugin@yahoo.com

Our guest, Dr. Julie Roth, a practicing neurologist in Providence, RI, professor of medicine at Brown University and eclectic bass performer was great fun to talk to about how we think about music while performing in community music ensembles. We heard about her from a previous guest, Dr. Marvin Wasser because she plays in the Providence Medical Orchestra with him and many other medical professionals. We touched on a variety of topics related to music cognition and how it relates to everyday performance issues for community ensemble musicians. We are looking forward to getting together again for one or more episodes digging deeper into specific topics about music cognition. Stay tuned!! (in other words, make sure to click SUBSCRIBE or FOLLOW so you don’t miss an episode).

Contact information for our guest and the orchestra is: julie_roth@brown.edu

and the website for the orchestra is

https://sites.google.com/brown.edu/pmo/home

As always, we look forward to your comments about our podcast:

info@TownBandBanter.com

Our guest, Dr. Julie Roth, a practicing neurologist in Providence, RI, professor of medicine at Brown University and eclectic bass performer was great fun to talk to about how we think about music while performing in community music ensembles. We heard about her from a previous guest, Dr. Marvin Wasser because she plays in the Providence Medical Orchestra with him and many other medical professionals. We touched on a variety of topics related to music cognition and how it relates to everyday performance issues for community ensemble musicians. We are looking forward to getting together again for one or more episodes digging deeper into specific topics about music cognition. Stay tuned!! (in other words, make sure to click SUBSCRIBE or FOLLOW so you don’t miss an episode).

Contact information for our guest and the orchestra is: julie_roth@brown.edu

and the website for the orchestra is

https://sites.google.com/brown.edu/pmo/home

As always, we look forward to your comments about our podcast:

info@TownBandBanter.com

In a second episode recorded at Lehman College Podcast Studio (special thanks to Steve, our technician) Doc and Dave visited with two of the founders of a fantastic community jazz band in the New York City area, the Library Jazz Band. Nancy Maron is the leader who pulled all of this together as a saxophone player. She had stopped playing after college and a while later joined a community concert band or two and really missed jazz. On top of that, the hole that the pandemic-shut-down created among musicians lead her and a few others to form a new band in 2021. This is a great story about the birth of a band and it’s rapid rise in the region. Nancy is the Artistic Director and plays Alto and Soprano Sax in the band and is busy handling most of the administrative decisions. Rob Sussman is an accomplished trombone performer and arranger who was an original member of the Library Jazz Band. The band is so good, librarians don’t “shush” them!!

Contact: Website libraryjazzband.org

YouTube, Library Jazz Band Yonkers also on Facebook and Instagram

In a second episode recorded at Lehman College Podcast Studio (special thanks to Steve, our technician) Doc and Dave visited with two of the founders of a fantastic community jazz band in the New York City area, the Library Jazz Band. Nancy Maron is the leader who pulled all of this together as a saxophone player. She had stopped playing after college and a while later joined a community concert band or two and really missed jazz. On top of that, the hole that the pandemic-shut-down created among musicians lead her and a few others to form a new band in 2021. This is a great story about the birth of a band and it’s rapid rise in the region. Nancy is the Artistic Director and plays Alto and Soprano Sax in the band and is busy handling most of the administrative decisions. Rob Sussman is an accomplished trombone performer and arranger who was an original member of the Library Jazz Band. The band is so good, librarians don’t “shush” them!!

Contact: Website libraryjazzband.org

YouTube, Library Jazz Band Yonkers also on Facebook and Instagram

Doc and Dave actually managed to get to New York City to shoot two episodes at the awesome Lehman College Podcast studio. All of that was thanks to Karl Watson, one of our URI Alumni Band members who is serves in an Music Department administration and IT roles at Lehman between playing in a large variety of community and professional ensembles (violin in orchestras, woodwinds in everything from community concert bands to jazz big bands, latin and rock bands!). We also were honored to meet Alan Holander who is a bit of a legend in the New York concert band, orchestra and oboe scene. The episode traveled deep into the community band genre and the unique perspectives of both of these great guests! Enjoy the ride!!

Please contact the Lehman Music department for additional information about their undergraduate and graduate music programs (music@lehman.cuny.edu as well as the Lehman You Tube Page: @LehmanMusicDepartment.

Doc and Dave actually managed to get to New York City to shoot two episodes at the awesome Lehman College Podcast studio. All of that was thanks to Karl Watson, one of our URI Alumni Band members who is serves in an Music Department administration and IT roles at Lehman between playing in a large variety of community and professional ensembles (violin in orchestras, woodwinds in everything from community concert bands to jazz big bands, latin and rock bands!). We also were honored to meet Alan Holander who is a bit of a legend in the New York concert band, orchestra and oboe scene. The episode traveled deep into the community band genre and the unique perspectives of both of these great guests! Enjoy the ride!!

Please contact the Lehman Music department for additional information about their undergraduate and graduate music programs (music@lehman.cuny.edu as well as the Lehman You Tube Page: @LehmanMusicDepartment.