Although we now have the holiday season behind us, I want to recognize the rich presence of music and the performing arts that I witnessed in our community in the fall and leading up to our celebration of Christmas 2024. As a member the Golden Belt Community Concert Association with objectives to bring music and the performing arts to this area and to promote music education, I want to draw attention to some of the events that prove this area has a great heritage of music and the tradition continues to grow.
The following events that I include in this column are only the ones I attended, but I know there are many more groups and individuals sharing their musical talents for our community’s musical enrichment.
First on my list is an event that became a “first” in Great Bend and central Kansas because it brought the Stan Kenton Brass to perform in this area. Some of our GBCCA members and many other community members helped bring this Christmas concert to Great Bend. The brass performance of Christmas carols in December exceeded our expectations as it drew an audience of approximately 250 people, filling the Trinity Lutheran Church sanctuary and overflow area, plus its balcony, for this musical way of rejoicing in the spirit of Christmas.
The Stan Kenton Brass includes two musicians from this area, retired Great Bend band director Kurtis Koch playing drums and August Siefkes of St. John, now a freshman at Kansas State University, playing xylophone. The resounding carols of the “Stan Kenton Brass Christmas” were amazing. As the music ended, audience members came forward in abundance to express their appreciation for the 20 members of the Stan Kenton Brass and others involved in making the event possible. I think this Christmas concert warmed the hearts of all in attendance.
In October, Barton Community College’s Fine and Performing Arts Department brought out its full and comprehensive fine arts program including choral, dance, theatre and instrumental groups. Its Autumn Arts Concert showcased the jazz band, newly named JazzCats; Hilltop Singers; Concert Choir; and a humorous theatre performance of “Notes on a Marriage” by the college’s theatre director Dan Williams and his wife, Denise.
Highlighting the event, Barton’s Prairie Winds College and Community Concert Band, performed George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” conducted by director of instrumental music activities Jamie Minneman and featuring pianist Dr. Alejandro Avila, Barton’s keyboard instructor and director of accompaniment.
The Prairie Winds concert band also accompanied the Barton Dance program’s presentation of “A Nutcracker for the Golden Belt” in November. In addition to the college dance students, the production included local dance students from Aly’s Dance Studio and Be.Studios. The college’s instructor of dance Danika Bielek directed the production.
Notably, for this extensive production with its Thursday, Saturday and Sunday performances, the college’s Fine and Performing Arts Department accomplished the technological feat of having the band perform in the lower-level band room and “piping” the instrumental music up to the auditorium. The band was visible to the audience through live video on screens. All of this technology was a necessity since there was not enough space in the orchestra pit, and likewise no room on stage, for the 40-some member concert band. This was a major accomplishment by the college’s technology crew, definitely to be celebrated. With band director Minneman receiving cues from dance director Bielek through headphones, the system worked seamlessly.
In December, the college’s Concert Choir, Hilltop Singers and JazzCats presented their annual Holiday Concert for an inspiring Christmas celebration. A special part of this concert was the induction of four former Barton faculty members as the first to be named to Barton’s Fine and Performing Arts Hall of Fame.
The inductees included Ken Shaheen, the college’s first director of vocal music from 1970 to 1992 (22 years); JB Webster, first band director serving from 1969 to 1991 (22 years); Bob Loss, director of theatre from 1987 to 2007 (20 years); and Steve Dudek, instructor of art from 1977 to 2018 (41 years), honored posthumously. The commitment and determination of these four individuals helped lay the foundation for success that Barton’s Fine and Performing Arts Department continues today.
Making the season even brighter, the college’s Central Kansas Community Choir, conducted by Barton’s director of choral activities Dr. Eric Foley, presented the Christmas section of Handel’s “Messiah” on Dec. 9 at Great Bend First United Methodist Church, including string accompaniment, guest vocal soloists, and keyboard accompaniment by Dr. Avila. This choral performance telling the story of the birth of the Christ Child from the Gospel of Luke and ending with Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus, conveyed the essence of the Christmas season.
These acknowledgments of our community’s musical and performing arts by no means recognize all of the fine arts and cultural enrichment of this area. There are so many more groups and organizations that play a big part in the community as a whole, including the excellent programs of the public schools, Great Bend Community Theater, Barton County Arts Council, and many others.
We all can take pride in being part of a community that supports music and the fine arts and keeps that tradition alive.
Linda Jerke is 2nd vice president and publicity chair of the Golden Belt Community Concert Association. She was Localife Editor for the Tribune for 22 years and was a communications specialist in the Office of College Communications at Barton Community College for 17 years before her retirement in 2011. She can be contacted by email: lindajerke@gmail.com.
