LAKE AGASSIZ CONCERT BAND
The Lake Agassiz Concert Band has been active in the Fargo-Moorhead area since 1987. The band, comprised of adult wind and percussion players, performs four free formal concerts each year. Additional community performances include outdoor appearances at the MPR Classical Music Festival and other occasional special concerts. The LACB’s goal is to provide the community with free, outstanding musical performances; to create an artistic outlet for serious wind and percussion performers in the area; and to perform challenging traditional and contemporary wind band music.
LAKE AGASSIZ CONCERT BAND
The Lake Agassiz Concert Band has been active in the Fargo-Moorhead area since 1987. The band, comprised of adult wind and percussion players, performs four free formal concerts each year. Additional community performances include outdoor appearances at the MPR Classical Music Festival and other occasional special concerts. The LACB’s goal is to provide the community with free, outstanding musical performances; to create an artistic outlet for serious wind and percussion performers in the area; and to perform challenging traditional and contemporary wind band music.


OUR DONORS
Today's concert is sponsored by:
We’d like to especially thank Gotta Go Driving School for sponsoring today’s concert.
Their incredible kindness has made it possible for us to offer today’s concert free to the public.
our DONORS
LEGACY LEVEL
Gotta Go Driving School
DIAMOND LEVEL
John & Deb Anderson
Moore Engineering
PLATINUM LEVEL
Cameron & Amy Haaland
Mary Jo Christianson
Richard & Carol Lewis
Del & Sue Jordahl
David & Cynthia Strand
Dilworth Lions
Greg & Jill Post
Andy & Erin Schaaf
The Lions Club of Barnesville
Linda & Stan Bjornstad
Lisa Schock
Sanford Health
Bell Bank
Heartland Trust Company
GOLD LEVEL
Davis Anthony Scott
John & Marjorie Gjevre
Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices
Jane & Jerry Feigum
Paul & Deb Ott
Brian Berg
First Class Mortgage II Inc
Drekker Brewing Company
First International Bank
The Title Company
SILVER LEVEL
Eckroth Music Company
Sue & Roger Reinhart
Lauren Malland
Em & Bill Laskey
Kari Natvig
Mitch Kreps
Victoria & Ken Sims
Douglas Neill
David & Virginia Stern
George & Bernadette Lies
Mary & Dana Frojen
Sue Eider
Marcy Dronen
Hannah Torgerson
Julie Snortland
Steve & Gay Blazek
Roger & Sue Reinhart
Susan Clambey
Walter & Janet Spiese
Tyler & Leah Rebrovich
Kerri Lee
Martha Moore
Tim & Ginger Haaland
David Johnson
Ryan Dodd
Catherine & John Tesch
Patricia Belknap
Lea & William Shulstad
Carolyn Nelson
Stephanie Melquist
Robert & Bonnie Ames
Emily Kulland
Rod & Diane Jordahl
Ramona Johnson
Monte & Tiana Grise
Bill Schlossman
Gene Okerlund
Lee Hofsommer
Natalie Lies
Alpha Roeszler
Mark Berntson
Alyson & Mark Bjornstad
Noelle & Curt Ambers
D J Colter Agency Inc
Pepper’s American Cafe
Weber Insurance Agency LLC
Schmitt Music
O’Keeffe O’Brien Lyson Attorneys
BRONZE LEVEL
Deb & Drue Haarsager
John & Janet Klocke
Hazel Jones
Andrew Eklund
Phillip & Angie Hermann
Tim & Laurie Wollenzien
Gary Barta
Keith & Adrienne Eider
Arland Jacobson
John Laskey
Kristin Leadbetter
Cassie Tremel
David Schaaf
Sherry McGuire
Warren Olfert
Dewey & Sue Uhlir
Matt Tesch
Pat Berndt
Dagne Forbes
Theresa Ulrich
Meg Bradley
Sandra & Joe Payne
Thomas Christianson
Coralie Wai
Lisa Hasbargen
Kristi Taylor-Livdahl
Genevieve Eidem
Rebecca & Derek Whitesides
Lynn Tkachuk
Dean & Erin Froslie
Kathy Frost
Sue Clambey
John Blazek
Audra & Garrett Maurer
Leon & Sherri Stastny
Lynn Severson
Paul Liversage
Michael Redlinger
Luke Olsby
Lucille Ott
Natalie & Duane Nelson
Lea & William Shulstad
Wilhelmine Jacobson
Zebulon Watkins
Paul & Deb Ott
Ardell Olson
Andy & Amanda Roob
Carolie Olgard
Mark Asleson
Ashley Strukel
John Kern
Bryan Lewis
Jane Linde Capistran
Brita Watson
Jordan & Katie McCormick
Michael Olson
Deonne Varriano
Leslie Masciarelli
James Swanson
Abby & Carl Weir
Kristin Carlson
Clifford Herrick
Deidra Lies
Jan Piskacek
Dan Christianson
Karen Rebrovich
Joe Wallevand
Barb Legatt
Kris Knutson
JoLeen Eklund
Nick & Erica Hanson
Linda Boyd
Tara Troxel
Dawn Verdon
Brenda Trandem
Cathy Dunshee
Tim & Amy Johnson
Nicole Skifton
Erika Tomten
John Lamb
Dawn Gunderson
Laura Devick
John & Janet Klocke
Ashley Blazek
Carolyn Wintersteen
Alyson Jezusko
Natasha Petry
Diane Newburgh
Nicole Boice
Mikayla Kludt
HELP US KEEP OUR CONCERTS
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TODAY'S PROGRAM
Overture to “Candide” (1955/1986)
Leonard Bernstein/Trans. Clare Grundman
Candide was Leonard Bernstein’s third Broadway musical, following his success with On the Town and Wonderful Town. The work was based on Voltaire’s satire of the same name. The music still sparkles today as some of Bernstein’s most creative work and the Overture has become music that stands alone and remains one of the composer/conductor’s most often performed works. The overture is full of musical challenges and highly sophisticated issues, not the least of which is a highly controlled sense of metronomic control and ensemble collaboration. Clare Grundman’s transcription retains all of the original’s sense of joy and excitement.
Puszta (1988)
Jan Van der Roost
I. Andante moderato
II. Tranquillo
III. Allegro molto
IV. Marcato; Presto
Belgian composer Jan Van der Roost wrote his Puszta in 1988. Subtitled “Four Gipsy Dances,” the work is just that: a clear celebration of the Gypsy tradition with generally fast dances with the exception of a tranquil second movement. The work is highly approachable and is a classic example of the kind of music written by this gifted composer.
Two Views of “The Thunderer”
The Thunderer (1889)
John Philip Sousa
After “The Thunderer (1994)
Ira Hearshen
Little is known about the details of John Philip Sousa’s composition of The Thunderer, other than its appearance in 1889 and dedication to the Columbia Commandery No. 2, Knights Templar, of Washington, D.C., a Masonic chapter. Sousa had been “knighted” in that organization three years earlier, so he may have some peripheral involvement with the organization and events that may have been a part of the inspiration. Regardless, it has become one of the most recognizable and characteristic of Sousa’s marches.
In 1994, composer Ira Hearshen became intrigued with the idea of composing a symphony with the themes of four different classic marches of John Philip Sousa as its basis and inspiration. Prodded by his good friend, Lt. Col. Lowell E. Graham, who was the conductor of the United States Air Force Band at the time, Hearshen began with the second movement, also the slow movement, and used the main Trio theme from The Thunderer as its basis. For his inspiration, the composer used the final movement of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, a huge and expansive work that remains one of the most stirring slow movements ever written. If one knows the original Mahler work, it is easy to spot many of the sections that Hearshen emulated.
Presentation of Allegro Grant
Variations on a Korean Folk Song (1967)
John Barnes Chance
John Barnes Chance wrote his classic Variations on a Korean Folk Song in 1967 in the early part of his career, and it remains a strong contribution to the wind band repertoire. Using the Korean folk song “Arirang,” the work is a classic piece of the theme and variations form with a clearly them followed by five variations that cleverly manipulate the theme into intriguing new settings. This music is also an example of a composer who died far too young at the age of 39 five years after the composition of this work in 1972.
Concertino for Four Percussion and Wind Ensemble (1908)
David Gillingham
featuring musical guests
David Eyler, Tom Christianson, Kenyon Williams, and Sigurd Johnson
David Gillingham wrote his Concertino for Four Percussion and Wind Ensemble for the Oklahoma State University Wind Ensemble, Joseph Missal, conductor and Wayne Bovenschen, Professor of Percussion Studies. For this “little concerto,” the composer utilized a large percussion setup that includes mallet percussion (including two marimbas), various drums and small percussion instruments. The work opens with a slow introduction that introduces the first theme of the work; the Allegro that follows utilizes both the original theme and a second more angular theme as the focus of its inspiration. A significant challenge for the percussion, the work is a virtuoso showpiece for the four performing percussionists.
our DIRECTOR

Warren D. Olfert is Director of Bands and Coordinator of Instrumental Music Education at North Dakota State University. His duties include conducting the NDSU Wind Symphony, teaching courses in conducting and music education (including student teacher supervision) and overseeing the graduate instrumental conducting area. He holds degrees from Florida State University (Ph.D., instrumental conducting/music education), the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (M.M., instrumental conducting), and Bob Jones University (B.S., music education).
Prior to his arrival at NDSU in 1999, Dr. Olfert taught at Bowling Green State University, where he was Assistant Director of Bands and conducted the Falcon Marching Band; at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kan.; and at Cameron University in Lawton, Okla., where he was Director of Bands. During his time at NDSU, Dr. Olfert has conducted all aspects of bands at NDSU, including the concert and marching bands, pep bands and chamber winds. He has led the NDSU Concert Band and Wind Symphony on annual national tours and has produced several compact discs of the band in concert. Under his direction the Wind Symphony was invited to perform at the 2010 College Band Directors National Association North Central Regional Conference for the first time in the ensemble’s history and has performed at the North Dakota Music Educators Association Conference in 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2016. Dr. Olfert also taught at the high school level in Louisiana and Georgia, where his bands received acclaim for their performances. In 2001, Olfert started the Northern Ambassadors of Music, a European tour of students from North Dakota and Montana; since it’s inception, the tour has grown to a group of over 350 participants and staff.
Since his arrival, the ensemble has participated in several commissions of new works for wind band, including works by Frank Ticheli, Timothy Broege, Jocelyn Hagen, Jack Stamp and Bob Mintzer and has won praise for his interpretations of new music. Dr. Olfert has presented workshops at various conventions nationally and has served as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States. He is an active member of several organizations on the regional and national level, including the College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association, Kappa Kappa Psi, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Tau Beta Sigma, Phi Beta Mu, and is past president of the North Dakota Music Educators Association.
today's guest musicians

Thomas Christianson

Dr. David P. Eyler has been director of percussion studies and Professor of Music at Concordia College (Moorhead, MN) since fall 1987. He is director of the Concordia Percussion Ensemble and Marimba Choir. These two groups have released three compact discs: “Wood, Metal, Skin”, “Reckless” and “Christmas Favorites.” Before being appointed to the first full-time percussion position at Concordia, Eyler served in the unique position of Tri-College percussionist for the consortium of North Dakota State University, Minnesota State University-Moorhead, and Concordia College from 1987 to 2000. Dr. Eyler has a broad background in both public school and college teaching. He has directed elementary through high school concert and marching bands, university wind ensembles, been assistant conductor of the Louisiana State University Symphony Orchestra, acting director of Percussion Studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and director of The Concordia College Jazz Ensemble I.
As a professional performer, Eyler was Principal Timpanist of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra from 1987 until 2022. He premiered the “Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra,” which he commissioned of composer Russell Peterson. During his tenure with the FM Symphony, Eyler has also been featured as marimba and xylophone soloist, conducted the orchestra, served two consecutive terms on the Board of Trustees, and was chair the Orchestra Committee. He has been Principal Percussionist of the Baton Rouge Symphony and Baton Rouge Opera orchestras, and has performed with the Columbus (Ohio), Lake Charles, Rapides and Potomac Symphony Orchestras. He has been a guest soloist and conductor with numerous high school, college, and community bands and orchestras throughout the U.S. He is currently Principal Timpanist of the Fargo-Moorhead Opera Orchestra and the Wonderland Orchestra in Fargo, ND. Dr. Eyler has accepted the position of faculty artist in resonance at the Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival, held at Valparaiso University, beginning in the summer of 2023. He will be the percussion instructor, coach chamber groups and ensemble sectionals, as well as be a performing artist and ensemble participant.
Eyler’s original compositions and arrangements are published by Colla Voce Music, Ludwig Masters Publishing Company, Music For Percussion, Per-Mus Publications, Pioneer Percussion, Row-Loff Productions, and the Musser Division of Selmer. His articles have appeared in The Instrumentalist Magazine, Percussive Notes Magazine, and The Percussionist Journal.
Dr. Eyler is the host of Concordia’s Annual Day of Percussion, started in 1989. Previous events have been so successful that he has presented several clinics and workshops at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention about organizing a Percussion Day and his clinic notes have been published by PAS. Eyler was a five-term member of the Board of Directors of the Percussive Arts Society and has served as president and first vice president of the Minnesota Chapter of PAS, as well as being a member of the Percussion Ensemble, Education and College Pedagogy Committees at the international level. He has been very active as a clinician and adjudicator for marching band festivals, all-state band and orchestra festivals, as well as district and state solo and ensemble contests throughout the U.S. Dr. Eyler earned his degrees from Louisiana State University, The Ohio State University, and Frostburg State University, and attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music.
Eyler is an educational clinician/endorser for Mike Balter Mallets, Grover Pro-Percussion, Evans Drumheads, and Sabian Cymbals.

Dr. Sigurd Johnson is an Associate Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Activities and Percussion Studies at North Dakota State University. From 2008 to 2021 Johnson was the Director of NDSU Gold Star Marching Band and was responsible for all the university athletic bands. Prior to his appointment at NDSU, he served as Director of Bands and Percussion at Valley City State University in Valley City, ND; Director of Bands and Instrumental Music at Rust College in Holly Springs, MS; and as a percussion arranger and instructor on the staff of the University of Memphis Marching Band.
While living in the mid-south, Dr. Johnson was a member of the percussion section of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, an active jazz and theater freelance performer and a clinician/adjudicator. He also spent four years teaching and performing in Norway. Currently, Dr. Johnson spends a portion of his summer teaching percussion at the International Music Camp, where he is also an executive member of the IMC board and Past President of the IMC US Corporation.
He has served as the East Region Band Representative for the North Dakota Music Education Association, is a past president of the North Dakota National Band Association; and has served as North Dakota State Chair for the collegiate chapters of the Music Educators National Conference (NAFME). Johnson has also served as Chapter President of the North Dakota Percussive Arts Society.
He is active in the upper Midwest as a percussion, jazz ensemble and marching/concert band clinician and adjudicator, as well as a guest conductor of Festival and Honor bands. Dr. Johnson is a Yamaha Percussion Instruments, Sabian Cymbals, Evans Drumheads and Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets artist as well as a member of the Black Swamp Percussion Instruments Education Team.

Kenyon Williams
PERSONNEL
PICCOLO
Em Laskey
FLUTE
Corrie Dunshee
Deb Haarsager*
Lea Shulstad*
Nicole Skifton
Cynthia McGuire Thiel
Tara Troxel
OBOE
Kathy Frost*
Kiran Tesch
Bb CLARINET
Jannel Barnes
Linda Bjornstad
Jane Feigum
Nicole Lee
Carol Lewis
Natalie Lies
Camen Loth
Amy Jo Mattison
Kari Natvig
Luke Olsby
Jill Post
Sherri Stastny
Abigail Weir
Catherine Tesch*
Eb CLARINET
Carol Lewis
BASS CLARINET
Su Legatt*
Lauren Sampson
BASSOON
Lisa Schock
Kristen Juhl
ALTO SAXOPHONE
Brandon Noffze
Erin Schaaf
TENOR SAXOPHONE
Paul Liversage*
BARITONE SAXOPHONE
Greta Johnson
TRUMPET
Jon Anderson
Keith Eider*
Andrew Eklund
Jerry Feigum
Sean Fitzsimmons
Cameron Haaland
Anna Joyce
Greg Post
HORN
Marcy Dronen
Adrienne Eider
Hazel Jones
Del Jordahl
Natalie Nelson
Dave Tesch*
Rebecca Whitesides
Laurie Wollenzien
TROMBONE
Bruce Geske
Amy Johnson*
Dave Stern
Mark Switajski
BASS TROMBONE
Lee Hoffsommer
Andrew Roob
EUPHONIUM
Tyler Rebrovich*
Timothy Wollenzien
TUBA
Bryan Lewis
Matt Scheerer
Carl Weir*
Derek Whitesides
PERCUSSION
Alana Joos
John Meier
Andy Schaaf*
Seth Schaefer
Wade Stalboerger
Sophia Strand
PIANO
Jill Post
* denotes section leader