Lima Area Concert Band to close out season with Disney-inspired show

Sep. 5—LIMA — This season for the Lima Area Concert Band is coming to a close, but their last show at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Civic Center should prove to be a magical one.

"When You Wish Upon a Star" will feature music from Disney films, and President Chad Higgins said that most of the music will be familiar yet challenging and fun at the same time.

"It's just music that we're all very familiar with," he said. "It's been fun to work on. Some of the stuff that we're getting is stuff that maybe people aren't as familiar with, but we know the audience is going to recognize the songs so we're excited to play for them and hopefully, we get a lot of kids there to enjoy it."

Among the selections that the band will be performing are pieces from "Fantasia," "Frozen," "Mary Poppins," "The Lion King" and "The Incredibles." Tuba soloist Jason Smith will perform additional selections.

"Most of our concerts feature a variety and a wide range of different types and styles of music," Higgins, who also plays trumpet in the band, said. "This one's a bit unusual in that it really is legitimately all Disney music other than our soloist playing a couple of different songs, but it ranges from stuff all the way back in the day to some of the more recent popular Disney movies and the music that people are familiar with. A lot of the music you would think is kind of simple, but a lot is actually really pretty challenging, which fits what the band really likes to play."

Higgins said that he knows the audience will bring excited children to the show.

"But a lot of the music is stuff that predates a lot of kids," he said. "Older people recognize this music from going to the movies when we were young, but it is actually very good standalone music even without the movie. It really is entertaining."

Higgins is looking forward to the culmination of a successful season for the band.

"It's been a pretty exciting season and we work really hard starting in March and this is the end," he said. "In some regard, we're kind of glad to maybe get a little bit of a break, but at the same time within just a couple of weeks, we'll be missing getting together and rehearsing and we won't be doing that again until March."

Tickets for the show are on sale for just $15, but kids and students through college can get in for free.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit limaareaconcertband.org.

Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.