KrisAnn Sullivan
Frank House director, 308.865.8284 OR sullivankw@unk.edu
A mix of marches, show tunes, jazz and the classics will be on the program for the Kearney Adult Community Band performance set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 12, on the veranda of the Frank House.
The band is directed by Dan Frizane of Minden, a retired band director and former Frank House volunteer. The Frank House is an historic mansion located on the University of Nebraska at Kearney West Campus. The concert is free and open to the public.
“For the best seating, people should come early, and bring a blanket or lawn chair,” said KrisAnn Sullivan, Frank House director. Iced tea and water will be provided. In addition, the Frank House will be available for self-guided tours beginning at 6 p.m. and again after the concert. On exhibit at the Frank House this summer is “PhotoVoice.”
“I learned from my son, who moved to Kearney in 2003, that there was no city band here,” Frizane said. “When my wife and I decided to move to the area, I thought a good retirement job would be to start a city band.”
Frizane was a band director in mostly small colleges throughout his 39-year career as a music teacher. He was also active in two community bands in Southeast Kansas, where he previously resided.
“I called newspapers and radio stations with my desire, and got a lot of support,” Frizane said. “I was also pleased to find out that Dr. Duane Bierman, a former colleague from a nearby college in Kansas, was the new UNK band director. He was very helpful in recruiting from the UNK students. He also donated the UNK band room for our Tuesday practices. I talked with the two bands at UNK, and now some one-fourth of the city band is UNK students and faculty.”
Last summer was the first season for the Kearney Adult Community Band.
“It was great playing each Thursday evening at the bandshell at Harmon Park,” Frizane said. The band has about 35 members, and approximately 100 people attended the concerts each week.
Frizane said that the band is using the same general format this summer—Tuesday practice at UNK, Thursday perform at Harmon, except for the Frank House performance.
“The park folks let us use the park for free,” Frizane said. “We are off to a good start this summer in our concerts, so far.”
The program usually opens with the National Anthem, followed by the summer theme song. This year the theme song is “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” The hour-long concerts include a mix of classical pieces, show tunes, era medleys, folk tunes, patriotic and jazz music, sacred music and marches.
“Marches are the particular heritage of the band,” Frizane said.
“We have players from all over the area—Grand Island and Hastings, as well as Kearney and smaller towns,” Frizane said. “We even have a couple who will come as needed from North Platte!
“No one is paid,” he said. “It is all volunteer, and we seek no funds from any business or arts association. We are just a bunch of folks who enjoy playing and want to share with others. I am pleased that some one-half of the band takes folders home Tuesday to practice for the Thursday concert! They want to do their best.”
Of the upcoming performance at the Frank House, Frizane said: “I myself have played there and have toured the house. It is quite a place, and I was glad to perform there. It holds a lot of history.
“I have attended lots of UNK students’ concerts at the Frank House, and have enjoyed each one,” he said. “It just seems like a great place for a concert!”
The veranda where the band will be playing was built with an orator’s rail, which means there is a space on the veranda with no railing. When the Franks entertained, they often had an opera singer perform on the veranda for their guests, according to KrisAnn Sullivan, Frank House director.
More information about the Frank House is available at: www.frankhouse.org. To keep up-to-date with what is happening at the Frank House, go to www.facebook.com/UNK.Frank.House and “like” the Frank House.
