Not only was the Hot Springs Concert Band concert, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Greater Hot Springs Village, a holiday hit it was also in recognition of the 35 years the band has performed. Dr. Ryan Lewis was the guest percussionist demonstrating his superb skills on the xylophone.
Lewis is an assistant professor of percussion at Ouachita Baptist University. He was phenomenal on Xylophonia written by Joe Green and arranged by William L. Cahn. The audience was just as enamored as I and he answered our standing ovation with a showy encore right there on the spot.
The concert was magnificent from the bright, percussive and driven opening, Exhilaration written by Larry Clark all the way to the sentimental finale It's Christmas by Warren Barker. The final number allowed audience members the opportunity to sing along and get into the Christmas spirit.
Every number was lots of fun. Stepping up on the podium for a couple of numbers were former HSCB directors Julian Herring and Bill Morgan. Morgan conducts the Village Big Band, a subsidiary of the HSCB. The bulk of the numbers were conducted by current HSCB leader Dr. Craig Hamilton.
I can't wait to see how the band will top itself when it returns to the Village this spring for the ice cream social and band concert also sponsored by the Kiwanis.
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