Greater Kansas City wins Legion band contest
Photo by Clay Lomneth/The American Legion

Greater Kansas City wins Legion band contest

Saturday afternoon at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati brought The American Legion national convention's annual National Concert Band Contest. Three bands performed a wide variety of tunes, but one of every act was directly related to a war battle or period.

As an exhibition, Minnesota's 9th District American Legion Band performed "Minnesota March" by John Philip Sousa (the University of Minnesota's fight song); selections from the 1962 musical "The Music Man" by Meredith Wilson; and "Last Full Measure: A Gettysburg Remembrance," a patriotic medley by Michael Sweeney.

In competition, the Joliet American Legion Band of Post 1080 in Joliet, Ill., played the introduction to Act III of the Richard Wagner opera Lohengrin; "Strategic Air Command March" by Clifton Williams; and the Fifth Symphony Finale by Dmitri Shostakovich.

The American Legion Band of Greater Kansas City (Mo.) played "Children's March: Over the Hills and Far Away" by Percy Grainger; the Frederick Fennell arrangement of "Bullets and Bayonets" by Sousa; and "An Original Suite" by Gordon Jacob.

Greater Kansas City won the competition with a final score of 93.7; Joliet scored 88.3. As he handed out the awards, National Commander Dale Barnett commented on all the bands he has seen in his travels this past year performing everywhere from benefits to Boys State, calling them "great brand awareness for The American Legion."