‘Heroes & Heroines’

Palomar and Pacific Coast Concert Band presented “Heroes and Heroines” concert at Howard Brubeck Theatre.

The “Heroes and Heroines” concert was performed for the entire month of February. The concert was directed by Kenneth Bell with more than 70 instrumentalists performing.

Jake Herzberg, who is a student, trumpet player and percussionist in the band, said, “The cool thing about this group is that there are older people that are really good and you can go around and ask whatever you want.”

The concert was put together and rearranged for Palomar and Pacific Coast Concert Band.

“It was written for orchestra concert originally but were transcribed for concert band, because there are no strings, fiddles or violins, its all brass, winds and percussion,” said Bell.

The plot is a celebration of the “Heroes and Heroines,” and the triumph of their rescue. “Fidelio Overture,” a segment in the concert that translates as “The Triumph of Marital Love,” tells a story about a woman who becomes a heroine.

“It’s a piece about a lady hero, or heroine, Leonora, and how she rescues her husband…it’s a very moving Opera, the only Opera that Beethoven wrote,” Bell said.

 

The sounds of the oboe and flute give way to the story of the love Leonora had for her husband, as she rescues him from prison. The percussion and trumpets can be heard to celebrate Leonora’s bravery in saving her husbands life.

Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez,” reveals the sounds of the natural world to celebrate life and love among political unrest. The oboe plays fluently and flows through the gardens of Palacio Real de Aranjuez, reclaiming the spirit from a quiet storm just beyond the horizon.

The audience is taken to the carnival celebration in the Italian cobblestone street parade. The sounds rise and they become bigger and brighter as the bands horns and trombones sway. Bell conducts the band onto the festive sounds of the Italian carnival as the tuba and percussion are introduced to celebrate in Tchaikovsky’s “Capriccio Italian.”

“We can just smell the oregano and tomato sauce,” Bell said.

The saxophone is bold in John Edmondson’s “Essay in Blue.” In this piece, the saxophone plays slow like honey, and gets lost in a curious and colorful jazz waltz. The audience is held in a dialogue of steady and beaming expression.

In the distance, a fiesta is simmering in Moises Simons “The Peanut Vendor.” The saxophone, trombone, percussion and trumpets take the stage in a cheerful Cuban rhythm.

Palomar and Pacific Coast Concert Band concludes with Charles Ives “Circus Band” and Morton Gould’s and Philip J. Lang’s “American Salute.” The lively, patriotic melodies celebrate with the trills of flutes, clarinets, percussion, trombones and trumpets.

Dane Liberator is a Palomar student who attended the concert and enjoyed the performance. “It’s a great atmosphere, the concert is 11 out of 10,” Liberator said. “They’re fun to listen to.”