The Karl L. King Municipal Band of Fort Dodge will continue its 2021 summer concert season 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Karl L. King Memorial Park, located in front of the library downtown at the City Square. Before the concert starts, beginning at 7 p.m., Dr. Scott Muntefering, from Wartburg College in Waverly, will tell the story of Karl King’s appearance with his band at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, in September 1921.

These concerts are free to all, and are provided as a public service by the City of Fort Dodge. Audience members are reminded that there will be no ice cream social provided yet and there will be no public restrooms available at any time during the evening.

Conductor of the Karl L. King Municipal Band is Jerrold P. Jimmerson, with Dan Cassady serving as the assistant conductor and Paul Bloomquist doing the announcing.

This concert will be a celebration of Karl King’s arrival here in Fort Dodge 100 years ago in the fall of 1920, and the many musical events surrounding his first year here. His first concert was in January, 1921, at the Princess Theater downtown. That concert opened with King’s march, “Sarasota,” which he dedicated to his friend and previous employer, John Ringling. Also from that first concert, we will hear King’s beautiful aerial waltz, “Enchanted Night.” Both these selections will appear on Sunday evening’s concert.

In February, 1921, Karl King, Major George Landers from Clarinda, and Alonzo Leach from Des Moines, lobbied the Iowa Legislature to adopt House File #479, known as the Iowa Band Law. This allowed cities to levy a portion of tax revenue to support municipal bands, and was later adopted by more than 40 other states and 3 foreign countries. The band will perform King’s march written to honor that occasion, “The Iowa Band Law.”

Later in the fall of 1921, the Fort Dodge Municipal Band under King’s direction was hired to perform 11 concerts in six days at The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. These concerts expanded the reputation of the band to become known as “one of the most important organizations in the Midwest.”

From that series of concerts, the band will perform Franz von Suppe’s overture to the operetta, “Light Cavalry,” along with King’s serenade “A Night in June” and the “Finale from Luisa di Montfort,” featuring solo clarinetist Nikole Nuttall, band director with the Alta-Aurelia Community Schools and a regular member of both the King Band and Fort Dodge Area Symphony.

Dr. Scott Muntefering, distinguished professor of education at Wartburg College in Waverly, will guest-conduct the King Band on “The New Corn Palace March” and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Sea Songs,” a medley of three British folk songs written in 1924. Dr. Muntefering teaches music education courses at Wartburg, and serves as director of the Wartburg Symphonic Band, the Brass Choir, and Trumpet Choir. He is currently one of the directors of the Waterloo Municipal Band and performs with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony. He received his bachelor and master of music degrees from the University of South Dakota and his doctor of musical arts in trumpet performance from North Dakota State University.

Rounding out the concert will be a medley of songs from the 1920’s, “Themes Like Old Times” and Karl King’s exciting circus galop, “Emporia.” Closing the concert will be the premiere of a new march composition by Conductor Jimmerson, titled “King of Fort Dodge,” which pays tribute to Karl King’s 50 years as conductor of the Fort Dodge Municipal Band and also celebrates his arrival here.

These concerts always close in the traditional way, with the playing of our National Anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In case of rain, the concert may be canceled at the last minute.