Mat-Su Concert Band kicks off season with John Williams-themed show

WASILLA — After years of getting by in the cafetorium of Teeland Middle School, the Mat-Su Concert Band is flourishing heading into its second season in the much larger and more acoustically friendly Glenn Massay Theater.

They kick it off Saturday night with a night devoted to the music of John Williams, whose scores for the likes of Star Wars, Superman, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park, make for a playlist everyone is sure to recognize.

“We’ve done different pieces in past concerts, but never a whole concert of John Williams,” said longtime director Gleo Huyuck. “We do have a soloist, Carolyn Harding, a violinist doing the theme for Schindler’s List — she plays with the Anchorage Symphony. And other than that, it’s really fine arrangements of John Williams music.”

Beverly Earley, concert band board member and French horn player, is excited for the opportunity to stretch her instrument to its limits.

“With these John Williams tunes, he does a lot of dramatic movie themes, so the horns go soaring across in the background of a lot of songs,” Earley said. “There’s a lot of high notes — low notes, too.”

The big, booming movie tracks obviously highlight the strings and horns, but clarinet player Karen Ladegard, a four-year member of the band, who also sits on the board, sees challenges for woodwinds, as well.

“It’s technically challenging — a lot of chromatic runs,” Ladegard said. “Quick pace, adventure movies. Keeping up with Indiana Jones and the other guys is difficult, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Moving to the 520-seat Massay Theater on the Mat-Su College campus hasn’t only increased the spectators for the band; it’s increased the number of members, too. Ladegard estimates that it’s grown by a third since the move two years ago.

“We’re the best concert band in the state — it’s a fact,” Earley said. “We have a lot of really accomplished musicians in the band, people who have degrees on their performance instrument in the band. That’s why Gleo is able to pick some technically difficult stuff.”

Saturday’s performance starts at 7:30 p.m.

General admission is $10, students are $5 and children 5 and under get in free.