Gateway Band sets performances

The Gateway Concert Band will present its spring concert “Springtime Spectacular” at 2 p.m. March 28 at the White River High School auditorium and at 7:15 p.m. March 29 at the Enumclaw High School auditorium.

The Gateway Concert Band will present its spring concert “Springtime Spectacular” at 2 p.m. March 28 at the White River High School auditorium and at 7:15 p.m. March 29 at the Enumclaw High School auditorium.

Joining the band will be students from the percussion ensemble class of White River High. Besides playing as the featured soloists in Jared Spears’ Legacy, the guests will perform two percussion sets of their own and “fill out” the percussion section with the band on several other pieces in the program.

The program begins with the rousing “Fanfare for a New Generation.” Next is the lively, and tricky, “American Barndance.” After a touching setting of the poignant American folk song “Shenandoah,” assistant conductor Stephanie Magnusson leads the band in a march titled “Brighton Beach.” Then the White River students step the front of the stage.

El Palamino Noble, a Spanish paso doble, opens the second part of the concert. The band’s other assistant conductor and director of the WRHS Percussion Ensemble, Tim Fleming, leads the energetic “Splashes of Gold.” After Grainger’s classic “Children’s March,” the band commemorates the desegregation of Clinton High School in Clinton, Tenn., in 1956 with a piece titled “Walking into History.” The program concludes with an arrangement of songs from Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess.”

There is no admission charge, but a $5 donation is recommended. For information or directions, call 360-825-5369 or visit www.gatewayconcertband.org.

The Gateway Concert Band is a community band based in Enumclaw, directed by Jack Prindle. Formed in March of 1996, it has presented more than 175 performances in its 14-year history. All of the band’s concerts have been free. The band is open to interested adult and competent high school instrumentalists, without audition. Members rehearse from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday evenings at Enumclaw Middle School.