Brazil Concert Band season finale Sunday

BRAZIL -- The 154-year-old Brazil Concert Band, under the direction of Matthew S. Huber, will present Grand Finale 2012 on Sunday, Aug. 26 at the special time of 7:30 p.m.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Forest Park bandshell built for the Brazil Concert Band with WPA labor and community donations for a total cost of $5,000 back in 1937. C. Wesley Damm was the band director in those days.

The BCB performed in the Forest Park pavilion and above the concession stand prior to the civic-minded Damm spearheading the bandshell project, which is the focal point of all things musical in Forest Park.

As the BCB grew in size during the 1980s and 1990s, renovations and enlargement of the bandshell were made in 1995.

Personalized plastic benches, which adorn the seating area, were conceived by George Kumpf in 2010 and the new awning was the project of the late Jim Dressler and Director Huber in 2011.

The grand finale will conclude with fireworks if and only if Mother Nature continues to bring relief in the form of continued rain to the Wabash Valley.

Overture "1812" will be performed under the direction of ISU School of Music graduate Janelle R. Huber.

Euphonium soloist Norman Hanson will perform Buckley's "American Portrait" and Billy Creek Village's Paul Collinson will recite the text to "The Stars and Stripes Forever."

In addition, the Brazil Band will close the summer season in a patriotic fanfare with: "Our Flirtations," "National Fencibles" and "The Stars and Stripes Forever," all by Sousa; "The Klaxon" by Fillmore; "American Patrol" by Meacham," "Armed Forces Salute" by Lowden; "The Fourth of July" by Cacavas; "America the Beautiful" by Dragon, "Supreme Triumph" and "Shrine of Liberty" both by Jewell, and "The Star-Spangled Banner."