By Dan Deming
Hutchinson Community Concerts wrapped up its current season Monday night with five Chicago-area musicians called Alliance Brass. Up front, I confess to not being a huge brass enthusiast. Still, there was a sizeable number in the audience who gave the two women and three men appropriate applause and appreciation for their significant talents.
Along with their trumpet, horn, trombone and tuba skills, the artists provided informative and interesting background on their selections, a big plus for the audience, as their narration added significantly to their music.
Attendance was down sizeably from last week’s Beach Boys tribute, again showing that even if the city council brings about destruction of Memorial Hall, which currently stands as a strong possibility, most C.C. crowds will fit nicely, although perhaps less comfortably, into seating at the Fox Theatre.
Patrons were told that regardless of how the halls’ future is determined, Community Concerts has booked Memorial Hall for next season (which begins this September), and shows over Cow Creek will continue for at least another year.
With that in mind, there’s still time to buy next season’s bargain six concert tickets for $60, or entire families can enjoy the entertainment for $130. Although you’ve probably never heard of the entertainers by name, Community Concerts has a long history of presenting good, sometimes outstanding, shows for an amazing low price. No individual show tickets are sold.
As this season closed out with a flare of classical brass, the next one opens with a quintet of Mexican Brass. It will be followed in 2026 by Divas of Soul, Celtic Celebration, a pianist, the blending of music, humor, and Western history, and more modern selections from the mid-’60s and ’70s called “Live from Laurel Canyon.”
You can find out more by visiting HUTCHINSONCONCERTS.COM.
