The Monmouth Civic Orchestra is coming to town!

This year, the Monmouth Civic Orchestra will be sharing the stage not only with renowned baritone Lionel Marcoux, but also with the collective children's choirs of Immaculate Conception School of Monmouth (those would be the Immaculate Conception Children's Choir and the Immaculate Conception Youth Choir, both under the direction of Mrs. Alisa Ramer). The program this season is, naturally, a Christmas one, with quite a few of the old family standards, and, probably, a few pleasant surprises.

If you are in Monmouth, IL -- or the general vicinity -- this coming Saturday evening (13 December, 2008, at 7:00), please come join us in supporting the arts in our community. The concert is to be held at the First Lutheran Church, just across the street from Monmouth High School, in the 100 block of South "B" street.

Admission is, as always, free of charge. However, we do encourage those who enjoy the arts to give what they can to support them.

Monmouth Civic Orchestra succeeds once more

Sunday night, I had the pleasure of attending the Monmouth Civic Orchestra's fall 2007 concert, and, once again, came away satisfied that the arts were not being neglected in this small community.

The concert, originally slated for last month, had been reworked several times, until all the professional and amateur musicians in the orchestra could manage to work the concert into their tight holiday schedules. And, the change didn't really cost us much of the audience -- all the regulars were there again.

I was glad to see that the quality of performance did not suffer for those scheduling woes.

Donna Hauge looked downright regal as she conducted the orchestra's stellar performance...

And, now, for a little history:

Donna has been in command of the Monmouth Civic Orchestra since she founded it, more than a quarter-century ago. Her goal has always been to see that music -- the stuff not covered by high school marching band and current disc jockeys -- does not vanish from our otherwise rather isolated community.

The story begins with a music director hired for the high school, a director who promised he would keep the solidly successful orchestra program, but within five years of his settling in on the job, there was no more high school music program other than a single chorus and the PRIZE-WINNING MARCHING BAND (he always spoke of it in such glowing terms, although we at MHS were seldom anywhere near national competition material). And not that we begrudge the kids their glory, but it is rather unlikely that they will any day incorporate strings into the parade group. It was hard enough keeping our actual champeen bagpipe band going at the local college (my alma mater, too). Imagine trying to persuade a farming community that they needed to keep Latin classes and a string ensemble, but would have to cut the frosh football team from the budget....

But I digress.

Because the orchestra program was so crudely murdered at the high school, Donna Hauge took it upon herself to save young local musicians the heartache of having to abandon violin, cello, tympani, etc. in favor of the sousaphone, simply because the band director wanted it so. She created the Monmouth Civic Orchestra as a means of offering these young musicians the opportunity to play in a large ensemble. (Many of the musicians one sees in the MCO are regional professionals, paid fully for their contribution to the group's performance, but a few still donate long hours, in order to aid Donna and the MCO.) This allows the kids a chance to learn how to work with others in a semi-professional arrangement, so they will learn musical "teamwork", as well as learning the understanding of real musical dynamics beyond the end of their bows or elbows.

If they paid everybody in this merry band of rogues according to his real worth, the MCO would have been fiscally bankrupt long ago. As it is, the MCO is always teetering on the brink, for it depends heavily on donations from concert-goers, from the Buchanan Center for the Arts, and from state agencies.

I realize we're not the only community facing hard times for our arts programs -- what this is about is more than money, though. Every community needs artistic outlets such as this, or the community stagnates. The programs need interest -- musicians to play, and listeners to attend the concerts; sculptors, painters, photographers to create visual works, eyes to admire those works. And, most of all, they need people like Donna Hauge to continue to be the driving force behind the artistic communities. We really can't afford to lose the quality of performance we had this past Sunday night.


So, next MCO concert, in the spring of '08, I expect to see you in the audience, supporting Donna and the rest. They're here for all of us, after all. The least we can do is show we're there for them.


For the record, I've spent the past few years donating my time and graphic arts skills (such as they are) to creating and printing the posters and programs for the MCO. My mother donates the paper and printer inks, thereby freeing up a little more cash for the musicians. In return, I get a whopping great ego when people like my work... and Mom gets very little credit outside a mention in the acknowledgments, when, in fact, there is little I could do without her artistic input and her computer/equipment. A little art and inspiration spreads around a whole lot.

More Music from Monmouth Civic Orchestra

I'll be leaving this up at the top of the page, as a reminder of the upcoming concert in Monmouth, IL. I hope to see more than a few of you all there, Sunday, 2 December! Our community's arts and artists deserve -- and need -- all the support they can get.

MCO wows crowd with some enchanted music

Sunday night brought an unusually large secular crowd to the First Lutheran Church's pews, as the church hosted the Monmouth Civic Orchestra for the spring concert, "A Little Broadway, a Little Off Broadway".

(click on any picture for larger view)

I can't say I'm surprised by the interest in this program. First of all, the show is popular tunes that most folks around here can practically hum along with the orchestra, and secondly, it was a well-advertised event (not only were people seeing the posters I made for the concert, but the MCO got multiple mentions, in three regional papers, in advance of the show). And the MCO is a pretty darned good group, anyway, especially for a relatively impoverished small town.

Once 7:00 rolled around, the orchestra got itself settled into position, and conductor Donna Hauge took command. From that point on, the audience was putty in their capable hands.

The orchestra supported solo and duet performances by soprano Janet Gaskill and Lionel Marcoux , as well as having a little fun with their own solos (for which the conductor rightly singled them out for recognition: Leah Shimmin, Joanne Nelson, Robert Sibbing, Adrian Schultz)*.

A little past mid-point in the concert, the plate was passed (MCO is a non-profit teaching group, & do not charge admission for their concerts, so they ask for donations instead). At that time, the rest of the performers rested and enjoyed, as Harrison Graham played a solo on the piano -- a piece I am told was Harrison's own arrangement.

Following Harrison's solo was a duet medley, played by Robert Sibbing and Mari Hauge, of Harold Arlen's music, as arranged by Robert Sibbing. Mari introduced the piece without giving away exactly who Harold Arlen was, by saying that she initially spent a while figuring out what the songs were, finally admitting she knew all five -- at least she knew the first line to each song. The audience laughed with her, then spent the next few minutes playing the game of identifying what the songs were -- and who Harold Arlen was. The look of recognition hit the last few faces in the audience when the songs from "The Wizard of Oz" finally came into play at the last... It was fun to see their expressions as the coin dropped in the slot. The performance -- not to mention the arrangement -- was lovely, as well.

After Mari and Robert took their places again amid the orchestra, the final segment of the concert began -- songs first from "My Fair Lady" and then from "South Pacific." Janet became "As Corny as Kansas" and Lionel gave everybody "Some Enchanted Evening". Both of them -- and the MCO -- earned a standing ovation.


If you weren't there, you missed something pretty darned exciting!


*My apologies to Hayley Kessler for not getting her name printed in the Flutes section of the program. The fault lies with me, and does not reflect anything other than my failure to keep my scribbled notes in an orderly fashion.

It's SHOWTIME, folks!

Don't miss it!

to be posted at the top of my blogs until the evening of the concert

Y'all come to the next OFTA meeting

This month's is now past.

It started out as pretty much all our meetings start, with Jim DeYoung
making the morning's announcements -- such as the upcoming art show at the Buchanan Center for the Arts (where we meet each 2nd Wednesday). This Saturday afternoon at 2, the Buchanan Center opens its Annual Town & Country Amateur Arts Show, featuring works from students attending all area schools. It is a judged show, with ribbons and goodwill -- and quite a few artistic surprises, for those who aren't familiar with our little backwater area. We meeting attendees got a sneak peek at some of the work before it was all in place, but the judges won't even see the works until (most likely) Friday.

Also mentioned was that there are still applications available at the desk for the 4th Annual Adult Amateur Artist Competition, which goes up at the end of the kids' show. He forgot to mention that the rules and apps may also be downloaded here.

Jim mentioned that there were refreshments available during the meeting -- coffee, and some Danish Puff Pastry and coffee cake, prepared and by Judy Roessler. Bad for me. I gained five pounds looking at it all.

Eventually, Jim got around to introducing Donna Hauge, director and visionary leader of the Monmouth Civic Orchestra (MCO)

Still, the majority of the meeting was consumed by the lovely performance by Lionel Marcoux, of songs by Rogers and Hammerstein -- some of what will be featured at the MCO's concert on 22 April.

Lionel was accompanied by Julia Andrews, from the Monmouth College music department, on the piano.

Lionel's baritone voice rang sweetly in the accoustically-challenged BCA main gallery, as he made his way from The Sound of Music through Carousel. He finished his "regular program" with "You'll Never Walk Alone", which he admitted held a special place in his heart, as he had been asked to sing it at his high school graduation a few years ago.... Quite a few members of the audience appeared to be struggling to hold back tears during this number -- Lionel really seemed to hold nothing back, during this song.

Curtain call, and then a none-too-frivolous performance of a piece from "Faust", and the performance was ended.

Julia needed to leave immediately, but Lionel stayed around afterward to answer questions, and then members were invited to lunch with him and Donna Hauge, et al, at the Soda Works, a couple of blocks away. I'd have liked to attend that, but deadlines brought me back home. sigh.

If you missed the meeting, there's still a chance for you to hear Lionel sing -- and Monmouth's Janet Gaskil, as well -- to the sound of our Civic Orchestra, a week from this coming Sunday, at the First Lutheran Church (where the accoustics are much better than at the BCA). Please say you'll come, if you're within a reasonable driving distance.

Community arts need all the support they can get. And this will be worth your while -- unless you're a complete snob. In which case, just send them your money, to show you believe in the cause, even though you wouldn't be caught dead joining a club which would have me as a member.

Monmouth Civic Orchestra plays another hand

This poster will remain at the top of my blogs until the evening of the concert.




For further information, please either leave a comment here, e-mail me via my blog link, or go to The MCO's Home Page. Right now, going through me is faster, though. The MCO's primary focus is on producing excellent musical performances, not on cyberstuff.


Please, support community arts programs.