ERMA – It was as if John Philip Sousa, Leonard Bernstein, and Richard Wagner converged on Lower Cape May Regional High School for a musical evening June 8.
The 55-member U.S. Coast Guard Band, under the direction of Lt. Cmdr. Adam Williamson, director, performed a free concert for a crowd of veterans, music lovers, and those who support the Cape May County Coast Guard Community Foundation.
Lower Cape May Regional Superintendent Christopher Kobik, who once directed the school’s band, was accorded the honor of directing the Coast Guard musicians in Sousa’s “The Washington Post.” Their performance drew a rousing round of applause.
The program began with Wagner’s “Huldigungsmarsch.”
After that, Musician First Class (MU1) Nathan Lassell amazed the audience with a xylophone work “Girlfriends Medley” arranged by Jim Perry.
Sousa’s “Nobles of the Mystic Shrine,” written to honor Shriners, was next on the playlist.
Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from “On the Town” a 1944 production, made the audience think of sailors on liberty in New York City.
Veterans were next on the program as an “Armed Forces Medley” was played and service members or those who had served, or who wanted to honor someone in that service, stood when the theme song was played.
“Underway: A Sailing Medley” arranged by MU1 Robert Langslet featured the voice of soprano MU1 Megan Weikleenget accompanied on saxophone by MU1 Joe D’Aleo.
Final arrangement of the evening was “Gardens of Stone” a tribute to those who gave their lives in the nation’s service through words of several U.S. presidents.
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