Wheaton Municipal Band audience to pick the music at August 1 concert

The Wheaton Municipal Band will present a unique interactive audience participation concert on Thursday, August 1 at 8:00 p.m. in Memorial Park, 208 W. Union Ave., Wheaton.  In a programming first for the 84-year-old band, the audience will choose all of the music for the program in real-time during the concert. The band will not know what music is to be performed until moments before the downbeat.

For example, will the audience prefer “Russian Sailor’s Dance”, “Symphonic Dance No. 3 Fiesta”, or “Incantation and Dance”?  Nobody knows until the votes come in! Same thing for a variety of other choices, from marches to overtures to musicals to movie action hero music.  The audience votes via electronic voting devices or by text message. Specialized software tallies the results backstage and the band finds out what to play at the last minute when announcer Pete Freidmann reveals the winner.

How can the band possibly prepare for a concert with unknown programming? We’ll see. It sounds crazy and while the concert is challenging for conductor Dr. Bruce Moss and the band to put together, it promises to be fun for everyone.  The Friends of the Band annual raffle takes place at this concert as well, offering numerous prizes from Wheaton merchants.

A night at a Wheaton Municipal Band concert is fun for all.  Bring a picnic and a lawn chair and get ready to cast your ballot for your musical favorites on Thursday, August 1 at 8:00 p.m. in Memorial Park in downtown Wheaton.