Gleo Huyck conducting the Mat-Su Concert Band. Photo Credit: Heather Dunn
Contributed by Drewcilla Holifield, Mat-Su Concert Band
Mat-Su Concert Band Holiday Concert
12/16/2017 - 7:30PM, 12/17/2017 - 4PM
Mat-Su Concert Band
Glenn Massay Theater
8295 E College Dr. Palmer
Tickets: FREE (Ages 0-5), $7 Students, $15 General
Mat-Su Concert Band will perform two concerts to celebrate the joy of the holiday season at the Glenn Massay Theater at Mat-Su College. The concerts are at 7:30p.m. on Saturday, December 16th and 4p.m. on Sunday, December 17th.
Tickets are $15 for general admission and $7 for students. Children 5 and under get in free. Tickets can be purchased online at www.matsuconcertband.org.
The holiday concerts include a popular audience sing-a-long of favorite and familiar tunes. Other pieces currently in rehearsal include a mix of popular melodies and traditional tunes.
“Festive Overture” by Dmitri Shostakovich was said to be composed in three days for a performance at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater to commemorate an anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution. Its lively feel and toe-tapping tempo matches the spirit of the season.
“My Christmas Dream” by Ilari Hylkila is a peaceful holiday composition that evokes the serenity of falling snow. The young, but prolific composer was born in western Finland in 1978.
Gleo Huyck conducting the Mat-Su Concert Band. Photo Credit: Heather Dunn
Several pieces are based on traditional melodies: “Passacaglia on an Old English Carol” by Robert Longfield, “Fantasia on a 13th Century Carol” by James L. Hossay, “Jingle Them Bells” by Julie Giroux and “Let the Bells Ring!” based on “Ukrainian Bell Carol” – better known as “Carol of the Bells.”
Any fans of the child-like side of the holidays will appreciate “Pixar Movie Magic”, a medley of tunes from movies like Up and Toy Story.
About Mat-Su Concert Band:
The Band got its start in 1984 as the Mat-Su Community Band, formed by Matanuska Music owner Hank Hartman. Other directors have included Neil Long and Phil Munger.
Current director Gleo Huyck is a retired music educator and private instructor. Under Huyck’s baton, the band performs a wide-ranging selection of challenging music. The Band this season numbers about 70 amateur musicians who assemble every Monday night for rehearsals at Teeland Middle School.
