ORANGE CITY – The Orange City Area Community Band will take the stage for their first 2014 concert on Wed. June 25, and Tom Forkenbrock of Chicago will be the guest soloist.
The concert is beginning the 17th year of the band under the direction of Carla Van Beek. It is part of the Orange City Arts Council’s Onstage Orange City series, and sponsored by Diamond Vogel Paint and Van Engelenhoven Agency.
The concert will be held in Orange City’s Windmill Park at 7:00pm.
It promises to be a fun-filled evening of music, featuring some of Van Beek’s favorites over the past 17 years: A Day at Disneyland, Grease!, Pop & Rock Legends: Neil Diamond, I Dreamed a Dream, Star Dust, That Old Time Religion, Praise to the Lord the Almighty and Flight of Valor.
Forkenbrock, who played trumpet with the U.S. Army Band for nine years, will solo with the band this week. Forkenbrock will be featured in I Dreamed a Dream, Star Dust and That Old Time Religion.
The Orange City native graduated from M-OC High School in ’82, then enlisted in the U.S. Army. He has performed for two presidents, Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr., plus Prince Charles and other dignitaries from around the world. He also played for the Pan American Games and the ’88 Olympics in South Korea.
Since leaving the Army, Forkenbrock has performed with big bands, wind ensembles and other performing groups in the Chicago area, and with artists including Bill Watrous, Dick Oatts, Joe LaBarbera, Chuck Findley and Bill Porter. His bands have opened for Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, Ramsey Lewis and Count Basie’s Big Band.
Forkenbrock regularly performs with “Brass From The Past”, a 60’s-80’s classic rock, Motown and soul group, as well as in the College of Lake County Wind Ensemble. He also plays French horn, baritone and tuba, but his first and most enduring love, he said, is the trumpet, which he has played for nearly 40 years.
Forkenbrock is returning after performing with the Orange City Area Community Band in 2010 and ’11.
The concert is free and open to the public. Bring a blanket or lawn chairs. Concessions will be offered.
Rain location is Unity Christian Knight Center. For more information or weather-related announcements, contact the Orange City Arts Council: ocArts@orangecityiowa.com or 712.707.6514 or see orangecityarts.net.
