Welcome to our online chat with Robert Foster, director of Lawrence City Band.

The chat took place on Thursday, June 15, at 1:30 PM and is now closed, but you can read the full transcript on this page.

Dave Toplikar: Hello and welcome to our chat this afternoon with Robert Foster, director of the Lawrence City Band.

I’m Dave Toplikar, online editor, and I’ll be moderating today’s chat.

Robert, thanks for coming down to the News Center for this chat.

Could you start out by telling us a little history about the Lawrence City Band and the Summer Concert Series?

Robert Foster: Good afternoon!

There has been a band in Lawrence since the earliest days of this city.

Some of the original settlers who arrived from Massachusetts brought musical instruments with them, and once they got settled in they began the earliest examples of a city band in Lawrence.

Robert Foster, director of Lawrence City Band, responds to reader's questions.

The band has a rich history with some interesting highlights.

One of the most memorable early concerts had to be one which was presented in downtown Lawrence the evening before Quantrill’s raid. That band had new uniforms, music, and instruments which had arrived from Massachusetts, and according to reports at the time, it was a big success.

The next morning all but one of the members were killed.

The gazebo in South Park was completed in May 1906, and the first concert in it was June 8, 1906.

Concerts have been an popular event in that location ever since that time, and they continue there today.

Lisa, Lecompton: Can you name some other cities similar to Lawrence that have similar summer bands? I’m curious how unique this is for Lawrence.

Robert Foster: There are adult community bands in a lot of communities throughout the Unites States. The bands vary as much as the communities vary, and each of them is different because they all evolved differently.

Most of the bands rehearse over a period of time in order to learn the music for a concert. I know of no other bands which can present a concert that is as challenging and entertaining as the ones in South Park, and perform it well after only one one hour rehearsal. To do this once a week, with new literature every concert is a bit of a challenge.

In this region, there are active bands in the summer in Topeka, Ottawa, Olathe, Overland Park, and many other communities.

Darlene, Lawrence: How do you select the band members? Are there auditions?

Robert Foster: The size of the band is limited to the size of the gazebo.

The result of this very limited space is that we have to have a limited number of players.

Most of the members of the band have been in the band for a long time, and there is very little turnover.

When an opening occurs, we strive to put the very best player available in that space, because the quality of the band, and the limited rehearsal time require this. There is actually a waiting list for most of the sections.

There are, however, several bands in this area that have larger spaces to work in, and which welcome new members. There are enough of these groups that one could almost play in a different community band each day of the week.

The Olathe Civic Band is a large group with plenty of space, and it is quite good. Another band in the area with opportunities to play in is the Shawnee Band in Johnson County.

Edward, Lawrence: How is it possible that the City Band only practices an hour before the concerts? It seems like it would be way too difficult to put that all together so quickly.

Robert Foster: This is a great question!

The one hour rehearsal schedule would not be possible if we did not have outstanding performers.

All of the players are experienced, professional level players, and all of them have, at one time or another, played a lot of the standard band literature. For example, most of them know most of the standard traditional marches. The music for the last two concerts was hard, and we ran out of time in the rehearsal, so we played two of the marches at the concert for the first time. We did not have time to play them in the rehearsal.

Professional musicians do this sort of thing all the time in the world of professional music. The ability to sight-read, and the musical judgement to play stylistically correct, are absolutely essential to our success.

Cyndi, Lawrence: I’m interested to know if the musicians in the City Band get paid, or if the ones who drive in from out of town get their mileage paid for.

Robert Foster: Cyndi, this has to be classified as a “labor of love”. Some of the players are paid a modest amount, and no one gets expense money for traveling to Lawrence to play.

At this time, we have players who drive to Lawrence from Topeka, Ottawa, Emporia, Kansas City, and one who drives in each week from near Columbia, Missouri. None of them gets any expense money. All of them are terrific players, however, and good players like to play with other good players. The also like the challenging literature that they get to play in Lawrence.

Katie, Lawrence: How do you decide what music to play every year for the concerts? What are your goals with selecting music?

Robert Foster: Katie: I work all year on those programs, trying to select the music that: 1. audiences will enjoy; 2. that players will enjoy playing; 3. that is possible to prepare with our limited rehearsal time; 4. that compliments the other music and programs, and is not too repetitious; 5. that is good.

The focus on the literature for the various concerts varies greatly from the very patriotic music of the concert nearest to the 4th of July, for example, to the Children’s Concert — where we hope the young people and children will recognize and like the music, but at the same time, we do not want to lower the level of the enjoyment for the adult audience or the players. Each week is a little different, and I think (hope) that that helps keep each program interesting.

Felix: Who does the arrangements for the city band?

Robert Foster: Most of the literature that the City Band performs is published in the forms that we use. We play very little music that is arranged especially for us. Consequently, we do not have an arranger.

Ken, Kansas City: Has the City Band ever recorded a CD that I could buy? If so, where would I go to get it?

Robert Foster: At this time there are no CD’s of the City Band. There is some discussion about trying to produce one, but none are available at this time.

Mike, Lawrence: Why do you think Sousa marches are so popular in this liberal city?

Robert Foster: I think Sousa’s marches are popular in Lawrence for the same reason they are popular in every major city i the western world.

Sousa was not an ordinary march composer, and for the most part, his marches were just better than the others.

While Lawrence has a reputation for being more liberal than some places, our citizens are, I think, also better educated overall, certainly more interested in music and art, and very concerned about preserving the best of history and traditions. There are no better musical representatives of what is good about America than Sousa’s marches.

Dan, Lawrence: What’s your favorite Sousa march?

Robert Foster: Picking a favorite Sousa march would be a little like announcing your favorite child. There are certainly some of them that are better (and consequently more popular) than the others, but I don’t have a favorite march (or overture, or symphony, etc.).

I really do like good music in almost any form, including pop, jazz, etc.

rm, lawrence: What is your favorite march of all time?

Robert Foster: The older I get, and the more music I discover, the more I realize that there are great marches from a lot of different eras, and different countries. I can name you a great Italian march, a great Spanish march, a great Prussian march, a great Norwegian march, and many more, and they are all really great. They have stood the test of time, and are still good today, many years after they were written and first performed.

I think that there can be no question but that the most popular march of all time, and this is true throughout the world, has to be THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER, the national march of the United States.

Mike, Tecumseh: What’s the difference between a tuba and a sousaphone?

Robert Foster: A tuba is an instrument which is designed to be played when the player is seated. A sousaphone wraps around the players shoulder, and can be easily carried and played while the player is on the march.

Both of these instruments are basically conical in shape, and they are the same length. If they were unwound, a Bb tuba and a Bb sousaphone would be 18 feet long.

Dave Toplikar: That will be our last question for today.

Robert, I’d like to thank you for coming in this afternoon to chat with our readers.

Before you leave us, can you tell us about next week’s Summer Band Concert?

Robert Foster: The remaining summer concerts for Lawrence City Band for this summer (all at 8 p.m.) are:

Wed., June 21 Concert #4 “The First Day of Summer”. Col. Arnold Gabriel, USAF, ret. guest conducting.; Genaro Mendez, soloist.

Emperata Overture, by Claude T. Smith; Easter Monday on the White House Lawn, by John Philip Sousa; The Blues Brothers Revue; The University of Kansas March, by J. J. Richards, Theme from the movie, Man With the Golden Arm, by Elmer Bernstein, and more.

Wed., June 28 Concert #5 “Heritage and Tradition”. Capt. Keith Bland, USAF, guest conductor. Music by J. H. Bell, & others.

Wed., July 5 Concert #6 “Our Own 4th of July Concert”. CW3 Rob Clagget, U.S. Army, guest conductor; Kim Murphry, soloist.

Wed., July 12 Concert #7 “Children’s Concert”. Steve Leisring, cornet soloist. Disney’s Magical Marches, & Cartoon Symphony.

Wed. July 19 Concert #8 “The Season’s Finale”. Lindse Ohse, soloist. 1812 Overture, and The Stars and Stripes Forever.