June 20

This special Father’s Day concert contained a wide variety of music designed to appeal to all musical tastes.  Marches performed included two of Karl L. King’s most famous: Invictus and The Goldman Band, along with Men Of Ohio by Henry Fillmore, and Father Of His Country by E. E. Bagley.  One of Karl King’s famous galops, The Whippet Race, was also on the program.

The overture to the opera, Barber Of Seville, by the Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini, was the evening’s classical offering.  This opera premiered in Rome, Italy in February of 1816, and received its American debut in New York in November of 1825.  This masterwork is possibly both the most famous and the best comic opera ever written.  Ludwig von Beethoven is quoted as saying, “It will be played as long as opera exists.”

Popular selections on the concert included highlights from the Broadway musical, The Music Man, along with the well-known song, Ol’ Man River from the popular Jerome Kern musical Showboat, and a rumba perfect for Dad’s special day, Relax!

Tim Miller from Humboldt was the special guest soloist for this concert.  Mr Miller has taught Instrumental Music in Humboldt since 1985.  He and his wife Debra, High School Art teacher in Humboldt, are the parents of 3 children.  In addition to playing Solo Trumpet with the King Band, Tim also performs with Jive For Five brass quintet, the Fort Dodge Area Symphony, Dick Bauman Big Band, and Jazz Coalition Big Band.  Mr. Miller performed the classic Herbert L. Clarke cornet solo, The Bride Of The Waves, which was originally performed with the John Philip Sousa Band.

David Swaroff from Dayton and Harlan Vandeberg from Fort Dodge joined Mr. Miller for Leroy Anderson’s popular trio, Bugler’s Holiday.

June 27

Robert Patton from Gowrie, a popular baritone vocalist, was the special guest soloist for the evening.   Mr. Patton attended the University of Northern Iowa before joining the U.S. Air Force Singing Sergeants in Washington, D.C. During his twenty years in the military, Patton soloed with the National Symphony and the Boston and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras.  He also performed with the Washington Civic, Baltimore, Wolf Trap, Northern Virginia and Annapolis opera companies. In 1991 he returned to Gowrie, Iowa, and became editor and publisher of The Gowrie News.  He is the fourth generation owner of a 110 year-old family business.

Patton performed the Toreador Song from the opera Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet, and highlights from the popular Broadway musical, Man of La Mancha.

Compositions written by the band’s namesake, Karl L. King, included the march, Bolivar, and the famous galop, The Big Cage.  Other marches performed included Russell Alexander’s Olympia Hippodrome, R. B. Hall’s The New Colonial, and March Grandioso by Roland Seitz.

Jacques Offenbach's overture from the opera Orpheus was performed.  Offenbach was the creator and leading exponent of the French comic opera.  This opera had its first performance in Paris in 1858, and its American debut in New York City in 1861.  It includes the familiar melody associated with the French dance, the Can-Can.

Lighter works on the evening’s program included Leroy Anderson’s The Waltzing Cat, Hoagy Carmichael’s beautiful ballad Star Dust, along with Midnight In Paris.  The concert closed with the playing of our National Anthem, The Star-spangled Banner.