For Hub City Times

MARSHFIELD – Oboist Mika Brunson, of Marshfield, will be the guest soloist as the Marshfield Civic Band presents its annual Grand Sousa Concert Aug. 1 at 7 p.m. in Marshfield’s Columbia Park.

Brunson will perform the Variations on a Theme of Glinka for Solo Oboe and Military Band, composed in 1878 by the Russian Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Brunson

In addition to performing marches of John Philip Sousa and other music of the early 20th century, the band will salute the centenary of the American Expeditionary Force’s (AEF) fighting in France in the first World War, 1918-2018. This has special significance for the Civic Band, as it is a direct descendant of the 135th Medical Regiment Band of the famed 32nd “Red Arrow” Division. This band accompanied the division to France in World War I and again to the jungles of the South Pacific in World War II.

The “32nd Division March” by Marshfield native Theodore Steinmetz will be performed, and the audience will have the chance to sing along with the band on two of the war’s most famous songs, “It’s A Long, Long Way to Tipperary” and “There’s a Long, Long Trail A Winding Into The Land Of My Dreams.”

Soloist Mika Brunson is a member of the Las Vegas Philharmonic – third oboe/English horn – a position she earned in 2006. She is also a member of the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra – second oboe/English horn – and was the co-winner of the June 2013 audition for the second oboe/English horn position with the La Crosse Symphony, with which she regularly performs.

Mika teaches Aural Skills, Music Appreciation, and Group Piano at the University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County.

In case of rain, the concert will be held in the gymnasium at the Oak Avenue Community Center.