Ever wonder what magpies, Russian horse-drawn sleighs, wolves, ducks, cats, bears, Czech bagpipes and Irish laundry have in common? Come to the Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble’s “What Is the Story?” concert to find out. This free concert is at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Cross and High streets, on Sunday, March 15, 2015, at 4 p.m. The program features soloist Kent County High School sophomore Glaeden Boyd and narrator Mark Mumford, Clerk of the Kent County Circuit Court. The program includes the overture from “La Gazza Ladra,” the Troika from “Lieutenant Kije,” “Peter And The Wolf,” “The Old Grumbly Bear,” the Polka from “Schwanda, the Bagpiper,” and “The Irish Washerwoman.” It promises to be a wonderful concert for both adults and children of all ages.

Glaeden Boyd, a 10th grader from KCHS, playing the tuba.

Rossini’s “La Gazza Ladra” (“The Thievish Magpie”) is a classic comic opera that premiered in 1817. The plot is elaborately complicated (as was fashionable at the time), but the work sparkles with fresh touches. The main novelty was the inclusion of a pet magpie whose mischievous thievery placed others in jeopardy, but a lecherous old mayor, a falsely accused maiden, and many other characters from this opera would become stock figures in future comic operas.

“Lieutenant Kije” is based on a short story written by Vladimir Dahl in 1870. A clerk miswrites an order promoting several ensigns to second lieutenant such that a nonexistent “Ensign Kije” is promoted along with the rest. Tsar Paul (the Russian emperor) decides to promote second lieutenant Kije again, and the imaginary soldier quickly rises through the ranks, finally being promoted to colonel. Impressed, the Tsar commands that Kije appear before him, but when the military bureaucracy realizes that the whole thing has been an embarrassing clerical error, they decide to tell the Tsar that Kije has died. “What a pity,” the Tsar says, “he was a good officer.” Sergei Prokofiev wrote the score for a film adaptation of the story, and the Troika (which portrays in music a ride in an iconic Russian three-horse vehicle) is an excerpt from the film score.

In 1936, Prokofiev was commissioned by the Moscow Central Children’s Theater to write a symphony for young children. Intrigued with the idea, he completed “Peter And The Wolf” in only four days. Its inaugural performance was poorly attended and gathered little attention, but it has since become a classic young person’s piece. The story involves Peter, a young boy living with his grandfather in a forest clearing. Peter goes adventuring one day but neglects to close the garden gate, giving his grandfather’s duck the opportunity to escape and swim in a nearby pond. The duck argues with a bird, and both are stalked by the grandfather’s cat. They are warned by Peter and flee to relative safety—the bird into a tree and the duck onto the pond. Peter’s grandfather scolds Peter for being outside alone: “Suppose a wolf came out of the forest?” But Peter defies him: “Boys like me are not afraid of wolves.” His grandfather drags him back into the house, but soon a big, gray wolf does appear. The cat climbs a tree, but the duck (who has excitedly jumped out of the pond) is swallowed up. Peter fetches a rope, climbs from the garden wall to the tree, asks the bird to distract the wolf, and snares the wolf by the tail with the rope. Some hunters emerge from the forest, ready to shoot the wolf as it hangs upside down from a branch, but Peter convinces them to help him take the wolf to the zoo. They all do so in a victory parade, although the grandfather grumbles, “What if Peter hadn’t caught the wolf? What then?” At the story’s end, we learn that the duck can be heard quacking inside the wolf because in his hurry the wolf had swallowed her alive. So there is more or less a happy ending. Mark Mumford will bring this story to life with a lively narration that is interleaved with the music.

Julius Fucik composed “The Old Grumbly Bear” for solo bassoon and symphony orchestra. Glaeden Boyd will be the soloist, on tuba, in this arrangement for band. The charming and humorous music depicts the lumbering antics of a slow-moving, cranky, old bear who—at the very end—finally gathers some energy! The composer is the same Fucik who wrote hundreds of military marches, some of which have become standards—“Entry of the Gladiators,” for example, is every circus’s favorite.

“Schwanda, the Bagpiper” was a very successful opera written by Jaromir Weinberger. It was performed thousands of times in hundreds of European theaters, only to be closed down by Nazis in the 1930s. The opera, from which the Polka is an excerpt, tells a story of adventure and magic involving a queen with a heart of ice and a bagpiper who can mesmerize all with his playing. At one point he goes to Hell (which some claim all bagpipers should do) and plays for the Devil.

The contemporary composer John Williams described Leroy Anderson as “one of the great American masters of light orchestral music.” “The Irish Washerwoman” is a traditional Irish jig (a lively dance) that Leroy Anderson arranged for the Boston Pops in 1947.

Directed by Dr. Keith Wharton, the Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble is an all-ages community concert band formed to offer area wind and percussion musicians an opportunity to continue or return to the pleasures of playing quality music in a large ensemble. New members are always welcome, without audition or fee. For further information, call 410-778-2829 or 410-810-1834. The ensemble is partially supported by the Kent County Arts Council.

The Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble, shortly before their November 2 concert.

The Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble, the community concert band based in Chestertown, will present its annual free December concert, “A Holiday Tapestry,” at 4 p.m. on December 14, 2014, at Emmanuel Church, Cross and High streets, Chestertown. The audience is invited to have refreshments with the band in the parish hall following the concert. (The church is handicapped-accessible, via the ramp and automatic doors on the courthouse-green side of the building.)

The program will include numerous familiar Christmas carols, some less well-known carols, music in celebration of Hanukkah, and a suite of music from G. F. Handel’s Messiah.

James Christensen’s celebratory original composition “Season’s Greetings!” will open the program, followed by arranger Brendan McElliget’s Christmas Suite No. 3, which features three traditional carols. His arrangement of “See, Amid the Winter’s Snow,” a 19th-century English hymn carol will follow.

An ensemble of eight flutists will be A special feature of this concert will be an ensemble of eight flutists (Jodi Bortz, Carla Gerber, Mollie Jewell, Brenda Lyons, Ashton Mooday, Helen Noble, Laura Rocco, and Antoinette Smith). They will play “Christians, Awake!” with organ accompaniment by G. Robert Tyson, Emmanuel’s organist and choirmaster, and an unaccompanied set of three traditional English and Irish carols. Mr. Tyson will also accompany the full band for several pieces.

In recognition of Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish observance also known as the Festival of Lights (this year beginning on the evening of Dec. 16), the band will play a medley of five historically popular Yiddish tunes, including “Tum Balalaika.”

The program will also include “Christmas Isn’t Christmas (Till It Happens in Your Heart),” the opening song in the Glory of Christmas musical for children by Jimmy and Carol Owens; “Good Tidings to All,” a medley of familiar carols; and “A Holst Christmas,” an arrangement of both familiar carol tunes and some of the notable original Christmas music by English composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934).

The program will conclude with a suite from Handel’s Messiah, six sections of the well-known monumental oratorio that he composed in 1741 for chorus, soloists, and orchestra while living in London. He worked from text compiled from the Old and New Testaments by his friend, Charles Jennens, to tell the story of Christ from before his birth through his life, passion, resurrection, and more. Although the “Hallelujah Chorus” is not in its original context when played at Christmas, ending a program with it has come to be expected and relished by audiences.

Dr. Keith Wharton has been the musical director of the band since its founding in 2001. The band always welcomes new members of all ages to join, without audition or fee. Rehearsals for the next concert, on March 15, will begin on January 5. For more information, call 410-778-2829. The band is partially supported by a grant from the Kent County Arts Council.

As it begins its new September-May season of rehearsals and concerts, the Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble welcomes new members, with no fee or audition required.

Founded in 2001 as the area’s sole community concert band, with Dr. Keith Wharton as director, the band is a diverse group, ranging from teenagers to retirees with a wide variety of occupational and musical backgrounds. What they share in common is a love of playing high-quality music in a sizable ensemble that values a collegial, supportive atmosphere. For the adults, the band offers an opportunity to return to or continue playing wind or percussion instruments—there is indeed an instrumental-music life after high school or college. For the students, membership expands their musical horizons and experience. Ideally, it also leads to a realization that participatory music can be a lifelong pursuit, whether vocationally or avocationally.

The band will give four free Sunday concerts during its 2014-2015 season: on November 2, December 14, March 15, and May 17. Rehearsals are held from 7:00 to 8:30 on Monday evenings, beginning on September 8, in the band room of Kent County Middle School, 402 E. Campus Ave., Chestertown. For further information, call 410-778-2829.

The band is supported by the Kent County Arts Council and community contributors.

The Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble, shortly before its March 2014 concert.

The Eastern Shore Wind Ensemble, the community concert band based in Chestertown, will give its fourth and last free concert of its 2013-2014 season on Sunday, May 18, with “For Those Who Serve” as the theme. The program, conducted by Dr. Keith Wharton, will begin at 4:00 p.m. at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Cross and High streets, in downtown Chestertown.

“Officer of the Day,” a brisk but melodic and enduringly popular march by R.B. Hall (1858-1907, sometimes called the New England March King), will open the program. The title refers to the military practice of designating an officer to represent the commanding officer during off-duty hours.

“Buccaneer Hornpipe,” by Chris Sharp, will evoke some aspects of the life of 17th-century pirates (sometimes privateers) in the Spanish Caribbean—their hornpipe dancing, enjoyment of a beautiful tropical day at sea, survival of a storm, and subsequent celebration.

Front row, L-R: Dianne Cimba, Marge Fallaw, Antoinette Smith, Carla Gerber, Mollie Jewell, Helen Noble, Brenda Lyons. Middle/2nd row, L-R: Monica Rosanova, Kathy Blyman, Sam Scalzo, George Boyd, Doug DeGraves, Kyle Webb, Glaeden Boyd Rear/3rd row, L-R: Joe Diamond, Brad Hollomon, Charlie Kallay, Ray Diedrichs, Christopher Harrison, David Knutson, Grace Kelley, Jim Pileggi Standing, L-R: Frank Gerber, Ashton Mooday, Sam Sessa, Keith Wharton (Director); Members not in photo: Peyton Chance, Taylor Schuman

Next the band will play an arrangement of “Adagio for Strings,” by American composer Samuel Barber (1910-1981). On the Last Night of the Proms (annual Promenade concerts) in London, an especially poignant orchestral performance on Sept. 15, 2001, conducted by American Leonard Slatkin, paid tribute to those who were killed in the 9/11 attacks, especially the first responders.

Englishman Gordon Jacob’s 1928 “An Original Suite (For Military Band),” a band classic, begins with a march, has a contrasting middle section reminiscent of the Irish folk tune “Londonderry Air,” and ends with a complex finale.

“Each Time You Tell Their Story,” with music by Samuel R. Hazo and poetry by his father, Samuel J. Hazo, was written to celebrate the 100th anniversary in 2003 of the New Mexico Military Institute’s band program and to honor former cadets who sacrificed their lives for their country and people.

Composer James Hosay intended his “Colonial Collage” to signify the importance of the North American colonial period, which led to the establishment of two great nations, the United States and Canada. Based on musical traditions of 17th and 18th-century Europe and America, the piece utilizes the three most prevalent forms of early American music—military music of the fife and drum, the country dance, and the sacred hymn.

The program will close with “Ascending,” a powerful 2013 memorial piece by Larry Clark. Wishing to not write a sad piece, he takes listeners through the stages of grief to an uplifting celebration of life and ascension of the spirit into eternity. As a vehicle, he uses a well-known hymn tune, “Fairest Lord Jesus” (also known as “Beautiful Savior”) in various ways.

Dr. Wharton has been the musical director of the band since its founding in 2001. Partially supported by the Kent County Arts Council, the band always welcomes new members of all ages, without audition or fee. Its new season of rehearsals and concerts will begin the Monday after Labor Day. For more information, call 410-778-2829 or 410-810-1834.