Independence Day concert fires up the music of Sousa
YARDLEY BlRlUdH – The muVLF RI -RKn 3KLOOLS 6RuVD wLOO fiOO WKH air, uplifting the participants’ spirits and giving them the feeling that they DUH VKDULnJ D YHUy VLJnLfiFDnW SDWULRWLF event with the community.
Just like in years past, a plethora of VPDOO $PHULFDn flDJV Rn VWLFNV wLOO EH waved to the beat of Sousa’s marches and other patriotic songs at the 15th Annual July 4th Concert starting at 4 p.m. at the Yardley Community Centre.
The centre, built 150 years ago, is located at 64 S. Main St. in Yardley Borough.
7KH KDOO wLOO EH fiOOHG wLWK UHG, white and blue decorations. Many concert-goers will be clad in clothing wLWK Dn $PHULFDn flDJ WKHPH.
Bringing the powerful and patriotic strains of Sousa to the stage will be the popular Blawenburg Band, which will include 40 of its 65 musicians.
The band was started in 1890 – about 40 years after the community centre was built.
Dr. Jerry Rife, conductor and musical director of the Blawenburg Band, said the fact that the community cen- tre’s stage is small is actually a plus.
“Forty is all we can put on that stage,” Rife said with a smile. “We play better when we’re close together. lne reason this is so much fun is because we’re in very close proximity to each other and we play more as a group when we’re packed in.”
At Rider University, he is chairman of the Fine Arts Department and professor of music.
Rife, who lives in Ewing, N.J., has been at Rider for nearly three decades.
“It’s been a steady gig for me now,” he joked. “It’s also a fun place to work.”
Clarinet is his main instrument. He also plays saxophone and piano.
He completed his Ph.D. in music history at Michigan State University. His bachelor’s degree is in music education and his master’s degree is in clarinet performance. Both degrees are from Kansas State University.
The concert will feature Sousa’s “Washington Post”, some of his bands’ marches, “Mars and senus” from the “Looking Upwards Suite” by Souse, “Belle of the Ball” by Leroy Anderson, “Midway March” by John Williams, “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, “America the Beautiful”, “The Armed Forces Salute” and “Stars and Stripes Forever”.
Rife said conducting the band at the community centre is “wonderful” with its always captivated patriotic audience.
“It’s fabulous because you are affecting everybody’s life,” he said. “You turn around and everyone in the audience – the young, teenagers, adults and older people are tapping WKHLU IHHW, wDYLnJ WKHLU flDJV DnG VPLOing.”
Rife added, “That is an amazing experience to spread musical joy.”
Sousa’s music is universal and very American. “It proved in Europe that America was not ‘back country’,” he said. “It was an artistic place in and of itself.”
Rife strongly believes that music and art are vital to the human experience.
“Anybody who comes to our concerts will go away with this feeling,” he said.
Dr. Joseph Eberhart, who retired from the Yardley Medical Center in 1999, said not only the stage will be packed, but so will be the 250-seat auditorium.
The concert is usually a sell-out, according to Eberhart, a resident of LRwHU 0DNHfiHOG, DnG D ERDUG PHPber and past president of the community centre.
He emphasized that this year’s concert marks the 15th year during which the event has been held.
In those 15 years, the concert has raised $225,000, which has been used to maintain and improve the historic community centre.
Eberhart, who served as a captain in the U.S. Army from 1962-64, describes the Sousa concert as “upbeat”.
“My heart swells with pride of country when I listen to this band,” he said.
Eberhart encourages people to come to the concert “if they are looking for reinforcement of pride of country.”
$n $PHULFDn flDJ wLOO EH JLYHn WR each member of the audience.
Ticket prices remain at $15, and are available at Mil-Lees Restaurant, T5 S. Main St.; Bucks Ship and Print in the Yardley Town Center; or by calling 215-493-0258.