Belgium’s Maasmechelen Concert Band heads home today after wowing their Dowagiac hosts Tuesday night with the most powerful sound heard here since the Kalamazoo Symphony opened the 2005 Performing Arts Center.
Mark Prils conducted the 58 musicians, a mixture of students and teachers ranging in age from 12 to 61, through a program exquisitely balanced between classics and contemporary.
Before the intermission, “Mercury” by Jan van deer Roost, “Saga Candida” by Bert Appermont, “Espana” by French composer Emmanuel Chabrier” and Richard Rodgers’ “DoReMi” from the Sound of Music.
The lighter second half consisted of a “Titanic” medley by James Horner, “Clarinets to the Fore” by Harm Evers, “Soul Bossa Nova” by Quincy Jones — think Austin Powers — a crowd-favorite, three-horned “Bugler’s Holiday” by Leroy Anderson and the rousing swashbuckling finale, Klaus Badelt’s “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
The Concert Band comes from the Academie of Muziek Theater and Dans in Maasmechelen.
“Wow!” exclaimed Mayor Donald Lyons as he presented Prils with the City Council’s Certificate of Appreciation adopted Monday night, a key to the city — “and the key to our hearts.”
The mayor also offered his blue Michigan pin on which a gold star shows Dowagiac as its only city.
“Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful musical gifts with us this evening,” Lyons said.
“It was truly remarkable and truly appreciated.”
The council in Belgium extended similar gifts to their hosts after a standing ovation and an encore featuring the alto saxophone, patented in Belgium June 28, 1846, by Adolphe Sax.
Band Director C.J. Brooks, who organized the massive undertaking through Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp’s international program established in 1969, wore a stunned look on his face from the high calibur of the musicianship.