Municipal band to perform on Fourth of July
The Newton Municipal Band will continue a long tradition Saturday as part of the July 4 celebrations in downtown Newton.
Following the parade, the band will perform a concert on the west side of the courthouse. The performance will feature vocal solos by Dick McKlveen and Suzanne VonSeggren, a special reading by Fred Chabot, guest conductor Adam VanArkel and a flute quartet.
Dick McKlveen will present highlights from the Broadway musical “My Fair Lady.” McKlveen is a native of Prairie City, where he is in the lumber and construction business with his brother, Tom. Their company is also proud to serve Newton with a home center. McKlveen attended Luther College where he studied voice and sang in the Nordic Choir. He has sung with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, the Des Moines Choral Society, the In-Persons, Newton Community Theater, the Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble and presently sings with the Central College Community Chorus. He is married to Kris, who is a music teacher at Pella Christian Grade School and has been a flutist with the Newton Municipal Band through many summers. McKlveen and his wife have two daughters. Katie lives in Des Moines with her husband, Nick, and is enrolled in nursing school at Grandview. Sarah and her husband, Mark Beerends, live in San Antonio, Texas, where she is a student at UTSA.
A flute quartet will present an arrangement called “Flutation” by Clare Grundman. Those in the spotlight include Kris McKlveen, seventh and eighth grade band director at Pella Christian Grade School; Sue Hunter, private voice teacher and vocal music instructor in the Collins-Maxwell schools; Jennifer Bebout, musical theater performer; and Kaci McCleary, 2009 Newton High School graduate.
Fred Chabot, retired National Guard Brigadier General, will present a patriotic narration and will be acting as master of ceremonies for the patriotic event. Chabot is a Newton native who graduated from ISU, George Washington University and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Fort McNair, Washington, DC. He and his wife, Lea, reside in Newton and have two daughters, Leanne and Courtney. The Newton Municipal Band will accompany him as he narrates James Swearingen’s arrangement of “Within These Hallowed Halls,” which is a patriotic setting of the ever-popular hymns “Amazing Grace” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Adam Van Arkel, a 2007 Newton high dchool graduate and member of the municipal band, will conduct the John Philip Sousa’s famous “Liberty Bell.” Van Arkel is a junior at Central College majoring in instrumental music education.
The concert will conclude with a stirring rendition of “Let There Be Peace on Earth” sung by Suzanne VonSeggren. VonSeggren is a Newton native and graduate of Drake University. She is a member of the Newton Municipal Band and has been involved with the Des Moines Symphony, Newton Community Theater and various church activities.
The Newton Municipal Band is under the direction of Dennis Brostrom, recently retired long-time band director in the Newton Community Schools and current elementary band director at Pella Christian Grade School.
The public is invited to bring lawn chairs and join the Newton Municipal Band on the courthouse lawn for their final performance of the season.
