Wind Ensemble, community band host patriotic show narrated by Stiers

CORVALLIS - The Oregon State University Wind Ensemble, directed by Christopher Chapman, will host a community celebration of American patriotic music and our presidents at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, at LaSells Stewart Center, 875 S.W. 26th St. on the OSU campus.

Also performing on the program will be the Corvallis Community Band, directed by Steve Matthes, and special guest, the Emmy-nominated actor of stage, film and television, David Ogden Stiers. He will narrate "A Lincoln Portrait" by Aaron Copland, performed by the OSU Wind Ensemble. He will also narrate L. Clark's "A More Perfect Union," performed by the Corvallis Community Band.

Originally from Peoria, Ill., Stiers began his acting career with the California Shakespeare Festival and later went to New York for advanced studies with John Houseman at the Juilliard School. He is perhaps best known for his six-year stint on the hit television show "M*A*S*H," in which he portrayed Major Winchester, a part which earned him two Emmy nominations. But Stiers has had a lengthy career beyond "M*A*S*H." He is a member of the "Five-Timers Club" with Disney Animation, after playing the Russian Dr. Jumba in "Lilo & Stitch," Fenton Q Harcourt in "Atlantis," Cogsworth in "Beauty and the Beast," Governor Ratcliffe in "Pocahontas," and the archdeacon in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." He has starred opposite Jim Carrey in "The Majestic," and Woody Allen and Helen Hunt in Allen's "The Case of the Jade Scorpion." Other credits include "Oh, God!," "Magic," "The Man with One Red Shoe," "Better off Dead," "The Accidental Tourist," and many other major motion pictures.

In addition to his success as a stage and screen actor, Stiers has been a guest conductor of many symphony orchestras around the country. He is currently the associate conductor of The Newport Symphony.

Sunday's program will open with the Corvallis Community Band performing a C. Dragon arrangement of "America the Beautiful," under the baton of guest conductor James Douglass, OSU director of bands from 1968 through 1999. The community band will also perform works by J.P. Sousa, J. Swearingen and A. Reed.

The OSU Wind Ensemble will open with "Fanfare for the Common Man" by Aaron Copland, and also will perform works by R. LoPresti, R. Jager and J.P. Sousa.

The Corvallis Community Band is open to anyone with at least a high school level of ability. Its purpose is to provide concerts for the enjoyment of the community.

The OSU Wind Ensemble is an auditioned performance group consisting of the finest wind players on the OSU campus.

Admission to the concert will be $10 at the door.

Information: oregonstate.edu/cla/music or www.c-cband.org.