The weekly Sunday night band concerts by the Karl L. King Municipal Band will continue in Oleson Park for two more Sunday evenings in July. Beginning at 7:30 p.m., these concerts are held at the Karl L. King Band Shell. There is no admission charge, courtesy of the City of Fort Dodge.

A home-made ice cream social by the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church begins the evening around 6:30 p.m. Persons attending these concerts are reminded to bring along their own lawn chairs or blankets, since no public seating is provided.

Conductor Jerrold P. Jimmerson, along with assistant conductor Dan Cassady and announcer Paul Bloomquist, will be leading the band on Sunday with a concert that Maestro Jimmerson has titled “REFLECTIONS!” Since this will be Jimmerson’s next-to-last concert as the conductor, these musical selections will reminisce on his 65 seasons of performing with and conducting the King Band.

A variety of march music will be heard, including Karl L. King’s “Samson” and “Diamond Jubilee,” the latter of which is a composite of seven famous King marches to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the C.L. Barnhouse Music Publishers in Oskaloosa. Also on the program is Karl King’s fast-paced circus galop “The Whippet Race,” along with William Latham’s British-style march “Brighton Beach.”

On the classical side will be Charles Carter’s robust and rhythmic “Overture for Winds,” a popular work with school, community, and college bands, along with the Warren Barker arrangement of “The Symphonic Gershwin,” which includes “Rhapsody in Blue” on this year’s 100th anniversary of its New York City premiere. George Gershwin is considered to be one of America’s finest composers of the 20th Century who infused Jazz and Blues styles into traditional American classical and popular music.

On the lighter side will be the highlights from the successful Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, “Carousel,” which debuted on Broadway in 1945. Several hit songs from that show are included in this medley, including “If I Loved You” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” There will also be a “Tribute to Benny Goodman,” featuring several of the popular clarinetist’s hits from the Big Band era.

Guest soloist Nancy Vogt from Gowrie will be performing “Rhapsody for Euphonium and Band” by the contemporary American composer James Curnow. Vogt received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Michigan and completed the doctor of musical arts degree in trombone performance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She teaches applied trombone, euphonium, tuba and brass skills at Nebraska Wesleyan University, and spent 14 summers serving as program coordinator for the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan.

A sampling of the many groups with which Vogt has performed includes the Karl L. King Municipal Band, Nebraska Brass, Lincoln Municipal Band, Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, Nebraska Jazz Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Concert Band and the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C.

Paul Bloomquist will be featured doing a humorous narration of the well-known poem, “Casey at the Bat” with the band. Bloomquist, from Dayton, is currently the director of bands at Iowa Central Community College, a member of Jive for Five, and a long-time member of the Karl King Band and several other groups. He holds a bachelor of music degree from Simpson College in Indianola, and a master’s degree in conducting from the American Band College at Southern Oregon University. Conductor Jimmerson says “come and see if Bloomquist hits a home run or strikes out!”

These summer concerts always close with the playing of our National Anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In case of inclement weather, the concert may be cancelled at the starting time. Any announcements will be made on the band’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/karlkingband/.