MELBOURNE, Florida, April 17, 2012 – The Melbourne Municipal Band (MMB), in conjunction with 4 the Kids of Brevard, is holding its fifth Summer Youth Band Music Program from June 18 through July 12, 2012. The popularity of the program continues to grow, with 95 students participating last year. Registration closes June 1.

The free music instruction is open to all students enrolled in 6^th through 9^th grade who are interested in learning to play a musical instrument, or who already play a wind or percussion instrument.  One month’s instrument rental fee and the cost of the lesson book are included for beginning students. Parents or guardians are responsible for the rental after the first month. 

The program will run Monday through Thursday, from 9 to11 a.m., at Church on the Rock, 4028 Babcock St., Melbourne (across the street from Palm Bay High School). Each student will receive a 50-minute group lesson with a qualified teacher and also will have playing time as part of a band.  Students will present a concert on the final day of the program, July 12^th, at 6:00 p.m. at the Melbourne Civic Auditorium. 

“This program has grown tremendously in the past four years, and we are very excited to be able to offer it to our area’s youth once again,” said Art Martin, MMB musician and Executive Administrator, and coordinator of the summer music program. “When young people learn to play an instrument, it’s an activity that they can enjoy their entire life and that can enrich their life forever.

Additional information and registration forms for the summer program are available by contacting Mr. Martin by phone at 321-724-0555 or 908-619-2143, or via email at mmbpalsyb@gmail.com.  Parents and students also can visit the band’s web site at melbournemunicipalband.org and click on the link at the bottom of the home page to access additional information or an online registration form. Registration closes June 1. 

About the Melbourne Municipal Band
The Melbourne Municipal Band, established in 1965, plays free concerts for the citizens of Brevard County nearly every month, and also contributes to the community through parades, patriotic concerts and ceremonial performances. Some 30 percent of the band’s 80-plus members are professional musicians. In a typical year, the band serves 69,000 concert attendees, and its members give 27,000 hours of community service in the form of rehearsals and performance time. 

Media Contact:
Carmen L. Bright
Marketing Communications Associates, Inc.
Voice: 321-254-0171
Fax: 321-752-9814
Email: MarComAsso@aol.com

“You don’t have to be a dancer to come out and enjoy this wonderful evening of upbeat music,” said Art Martin, conductor.  “We play different styles of music with different beats and anyone who enjoys dancing, or who just likes listening to the band, is more than welcome.”

Martin is a music performer, educator, adjudicator, and clinician who has played with well-know groups such as the Drifters, Platters, and the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. Martin also manages the youth Summer Music Program sponsored by the Melbourne Municipal Band and 4 The Kids of Brevard.

The May Flowers Ball will include a wide variety of selections covering swing, waltz, polkas and Latin music – as well as the occasional rock tune. Swingtime vocalist Len Fallen, a local favorite, will be featured.

The dance begins at 7 p.m. Those who would like to brush up on their dancing skills can do so from 6 to 7 p.m., when Laura Beers (www.adancersvoice.com or 751-4766) offers lessons. The fee for lessons is $5, payable to the instructor.

Swingtime, considered one of the finest jazz and big band groups in the Southeast, also is available for hire for community, church and other social functions.  More information about the event, ticket locations, and the band is available by visiting melbournemunicipalband.org or calling 724-0555. 

About the Melbourne Municipal Band
The Melbourne Municipal Band, established in 1965, plays free concerts for the citizens of Brevard County nearly every month, and also contributes to the community through parades, patriotic concerts and ceremonial performances. Some 30 percent of the band’s 80-plus members are professional musicians. In a typical year, the band serves 69,000 concert attendees, and its members give 27,000 hours of community service in the form of rehearsals and performance time.

Swingtime is the 18 to 21-piece “Big Band” dance ensemble of the MMB, playing music from the 1920s to the 1970s. The for-hire band features saxophones, trombones, trumpets, a piano, guitar, bass and trap set, along with two vocalists and a conductor/announcer. Swingtime Lite – a smaller version of the full band – also is available for hire. 

Media Contact:
Carmen L. Bright
Marketing Communications Associates, Inc.
Voice: 321-254-0171
Fax: 321-752-9814

MELBOURNE, FL, April 18, 2012 – Former Space Shuttle astronaut Winston Scott, retired U.S. Navy captain, accomplished musician, and senior vice president for External Relations at the Florida Institute of Technology, will receive a prestigious national music award during a May 13 performance of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble (SWE) of the Melbourne Municipal Band (MMB).

SWE Conductor Hal Gibson will present Scott with the Edwin Franko Goldman award – the highest honor of the American Bandmasters Association (ABA). The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to band music, but who would not otherwise be eligible for membership in the ABA.

One of the requirements of the award is that it must be presented by an active ABA member during a concert open to the public. The presentation will take place during the SWE’s aptly titled “Reach for the Stars” concert on Sunday, May 13 at 3:00 p.m. at the Suntree United Methodist Church, 7400 N. Wickham Road, in Melbourne. The concert is free and tickets are not required.

“Few people know that Captain Scott is the only astronaut with a degree in music,” said Gibson.  “Throughout his illustrious career, music has remained an important part of his life. He is today a very accomplished trumpet player, a professor of music in Florida Tech’s new music department, and someone who devotes a great deal of time to visiting young students in our schools to serve as an example of how music can enrich their lives.”

As Scott is a former naval officer, the May 13 concert program will feature a number of selections with a nautical or patriotic theme. Included will be the musical scenario Victory at Sea; the Navy hymn, Eternal Father, Strong to Save, which is written as a musical fantasy with soaring fanfares, a monumental fugue, and a vocal presentation of the basic hymn; and You are the Wind Beneath my Wings, sung by Dr. Robert Lamb, conductor of the Brevard Community Chorus, and Joan McMahon, and dedicated to Capt. Scott’s wife, Marilyn. Aaron Collins, conductor of the Space Coast Symphony, has been invited to be a guest conductor.

Scott grew up in South Florida and attended Coral Gables High School, where he played in the band under Bill Ledue, widely known as the producer of the Orange Bowl half-time spectaculars. Ledue was a profound influence in Scott’s young life, persuading him to major in music at Florida State University and helping him obtain a scholarship to attend the school, which ultimately was a stepping-stone to Scott’s naval career.  Ledue’s widow, Mary Kay, will attend the concert.

The American Bandmasters Association is the nation’s most prestigious organization of bandleaders whose members are recognized as the elite of the profession. The Edwin Franko Goldman award is named for the founder of the ABA, the well-known leader for many years of the famous Goldman Band of New York City.

The Symphonic Wind Ensemble of the Melbourne Municipal Band is focused on the performance of the most notable music written, or arranged for, wind instruments.  Its members are some of the finest, most experienced players in Central Florida, many of whom are also members of the MMB concert band. SWE Conductor Hal Gibson is a resident of Viera.

About Florida Institute of Technology
Founded at the dawn of the Space Race in 1958, Florida Tech is the only independent, technological university in the Southeast. PayScale.com ranks graduates’ mid-career median salaries in first place among Florida’s universities, and lists Florida Tech among the top 20 universities in the South-both public and private. The university has been named a Barron’s Guide “Best Buy” in College Education, designated a Tier One Best National University in U.S. News & World Report, and is one of just nine schools in Florida lauded by the 2012 Fiske Guide to Colleges. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. Fields of study include science, engineering, aeronautics, business, humanities, mathematics, psychology, communication and education. Additional information is available online at www.fit.edu 

About the Melbourne Municipal Band
The Melbourne Municipal Band (MMB), established in 1965, plays free concerts for the citizens of Brevard County nearly every month, and also contributes to the community through parades, patriotic concerts and ceremonial performances. Some 30 percent of the band’s 80-plus members are professional musicians. In a typical year, the band serves 69,000 concert attendees, and its members give 27,000 hours of community service in the form of rehearsals and performance time. The MMB includes the MMB Concert Band, the MMB Swingtime Jazz Band, the MMB Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and the MMB O Golly Dixieland Band. 

Call 724-0555 or visit melbournemunicipalband.org for more information.

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Media Contact:
Carmen L. Bright
Marketing Communications Associates, Inc.
Voice: 321-254-0171
Fax: 321-752-9814

Letter to parents and students about 5th Summer Music Program 2012

REGISTRATION FORM FOR SUMMER YOUTH BAND 2012

Terri Wright
General Manager

www.wfit.org

Terri Wright
General Manager

www.wfit.org

7:30 pm on February 15 & 16.  Nestico’s arrangements are popular with audiences around the world.   He is well known for his arrangements for the Count Basie Orchestra and the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Bands.  His work in the TV medium includes projects for Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand, and the scores for Mission: Impossible and Charlie’s Angels.  You may not know the name “Sammy Nestico,” but you already know his music. 

Nestico has generously donated most of the music to the MMB for this concert.  This came about as the result of his longtime friendship Charlie Almeida, a sax and clarinet player in the MMB.   Almeida will be featured on a beautiful alto sax ballad called Persuasion.  Additionally, our program will include Nestico’s  Spirit of Liberty March, Tribute to Stephen Foster, Los Valientes, Brassmen’s Holiday, Model “T” and Tribute to Harry James.

This concert will also feature my friend and mentor as a guest conductor, Dr. David Waybright, Director of Bands from the University of Florida.  He’ll be conducting Ralph Vaughan Williams’ English Folk Song Suite.  We’ll round out the program with Grainger’s Handel in the Strand (a very happy little piece) and we’ll add a dash of Sousa, just for good measure.

Come early at 6:30 p.m. and hear Charlie Almeida’s V.I.P. Orchestra play our pre-show entertainment.  This jazz combo will get your evening’s entertainment started nicely (and you may enjoy hearing my husband, David Cleveland, playing trumpet).

As always, admission to these concerts is free, and we gratefully accept your voluntary donations.  We value your patronage and support.  Spread the word to your friends and family.  We’d love to see them at the concerts, and you can contribute to helping our audience to grow.

We love to play for you!

Yours truly,

Staci Cleveland, Principal Conductor

An added note:  This is a busy time for the MMB and its affiliated groups. We hope you’ll mark your calendar for two upcoming events: First, a 7:30 pm “Sousa” concert by the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, conducted by Col. Hal Gibson. The venue will be the Indian River Colony Club in Viera on Jan. 29.

Your best chance this year to get into the mood for Valentine’s Day will be the Swingtime Jazz Band’s annual Sweetheart Ball. Come by the Melbourne Auditorium at 7:00 pm on Feb. 9 with your sweetie, prepared to dance to some of the best big band music in Brevard, under the direction of Art Martin.

MELBOURNE, FL, January 20, 2012 – Sweethearts of all ages will take the dance floor on February 9 as the Swingtime Jazz Band presents its popular annual “Sweetheart Ball” beginning at 7 p.m. at the Melbourne Auditorium, 625 Hibiscus Blvd. Dance tickets are $5 in advance or $7 at the door.

Musical selections will feature original and much-loved arrangements from masters such as Stan Kenton, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie and Les Brown. Popular local vocalists Sally Hart and Len Fallen will perform.

The band auxiliary will have a concession table with snacks, soft drinks, bottled water and ice for sale. Tables can be reserved in advance for groups of six more by calling the band office at 724-0555.

Those who would like to brush up on their dancing skills can do so from 6 to 7 p.m., when Laura Beers (www.adancersvoice.com or 751-4766) offers lessons. Cost is $5, payable to the instructor.

Call 724-0555 or visit www.melbournemunicipalband.org for more information.

Swingtime, part of the Melbourne Municipal Band, is a 20-piece jazz band, playing music from the 1920s to the 1970s. The for-hire band features saxophones, trombones, trumpets, a piano, guitar, bass and trap set, along with two vocalists and a conductor/announcer.

About the Melbourne Municipal Band
The Melbourne Municipal Band (MMB), established in 1965, plays free concerts for the citizens of Brevard County nearly every month, and also contributes to the community through parades, patriotic concerts and ceremonial performances. Some 30 percent of the band’s 80-plus members are professional musicians. In a typical year, the band serves 69,000 concert attendees, and its members give 27,000 hours of community service in the form of rehearsals and performance time.

Media Contact:
Carmen L. Bright
Marketing Communications Associates, Inc.
Voice: 321-254-0171
Fax: 321-752-9814