AIR FORCE MILITARY AIRLIFT COMMAND BAND TO PRESENT CONCERT; FREE PERFORMANCE WILL BE ON NOV. 6 IN CENTRAL AUDITORIUM

Described as the "best military band in the world," the Air Force Military Airlift Command Band from Scott Air Force Base, Ill., is scheduled to perform a free concert Nov. 6 in Cape Girardeau.

The concert will be held at the Cape Girardeau Central High School Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. It is being sponsored by the Southeast Missourian in cooperation with the Central High School music department.

The jazz band from Scott Air Force Base has appeared in Cape Girardeau before, said Kim McDowell, assistant to the president at the Southeast Missourian.

"The jazz band filled the Central Auditorium and played to the appreciation of a standing ovation crowd," McDowell said of its earlier performance.

"This band is the larger band that includes members of the jazz band as well," she said.

The band was established in 1942 at Jefferson Barracks, and moved to Scott Air Force Base near St. Louis in 1960. Formerly known as the Air Force Band of Mid-America, the Military Airlift Command Band travels extensively in 12 Midwestern states. Each year its members entertain more than 500,000 people at various engagements.

McDowell said: "The program has something for everyone; everything from marches to classical to Broadway to patriotic to contemporary music. Children will especially enjoy this concert."

Some of the selections on the band's November tour program are selections from "West Side Story," "Rolling Thunder March," and a salute to America, which includes "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "God Bless America."

Conducting will be Capt. Frank J. Grzych, assisted by 2nd Lt. Lloyd E. Walton. Grzych is a native of Chicago, and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music education from Western Illinois University, where he also served as a graduate teaching assistant.

He taught for nine years in the Illinois Public Schools, and was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Air Force in 1982. He has served as the commander-conductor of the Air Force Band of Flight at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; Air Force Band of the Golden West at March AFB, Calif.; and as the deputy commander-associate conductor for the Band of the United States Air Forces in Europe at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

Walton is a native of Kirksville, N.Y., and graduated at the top of his class with a master's in music in conducting from Shenandoah College and Conservatory.

Featured performers with the band include vocalist Sgt. Jay Willis, who has performed for the president and other government officials. He has also performed with Perry Como.

Senior Airman Bonnie J. Fresen will be featured on the oboe-English horn. Fresen, a native of Collinsville, Ill., has a doctorate of musical arts and has performed with the Quad-City Symphony Orchestra, the Las Cruces Chamber Symphony Orchestra and the Iowa City Chamber Singers Bach Festival Orchestra.

Tickets for the two-hour performance are free and can be obtained by mail or in person at the Southeast Missourian on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tickets will be limited to four per request.

For mail requests, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Military Airlift Command Band Tickets, c/o The Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701.

Tickets will be good for seating from 6:45 to 7:15 the night of the concert. After 7:15, anyone desiring to see the concert will be admitted.