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Band finale honors less-known soldiers By Bill Varble ASHLAND � When the American Band College Directors� Band presents its annual Fourth of July Fireworks Concert tonight, the finale will be a fireworks-accompanied 13-minute piece honoring soldiers from a span of two centuries. Charles Cassey of Medford wrote the piece a decade ago, but this is a new arrangement. "It�s never been done as a band piece," Cassey says. "Although it�s appropriate. I wrote it as a choral piece." Tonight�s concert coincides with American Band College activities in Ashland. The music begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Ashland High School stadium. Cassey wrote music for television for many years, working on such programs as the Gary Moore and Jimmy Dean shows, "Kojak" and "The Incredible Hulk." He moved to the Rogue Valley four years ago but still commutes to Los Angeles to work. Cassey�s "Heroes" has a narrator and lyrics and weaves historic songs such as "Yankee Doodle" and George M. Cohan tunes in with Cassey�s original music. The finale is "America the Beautiful," and that�s where all the fireworks come in. The music was performed in Ashland four years ago, and American Band College founder Max McKee asked Cassey to do it again. This year�s conducting chores will be handled by retired U.S. Air Force Col. Mike Bankhead and conductor Jan Van der Roost of Belgium. Guest stars are the Dallas Brass. Bankhead directed in the Air Force for more than 20 years, starting as the Pentagon�s chief of bands and music and winding up as conductor of the U.S. Air Force Band from 1985 to 1991. He�s now chairman of the Department of Music at California State University, Chico. Van der Roost�s compositions are played by bands around the world. He teaches at Lemmens Conservatoire and conducts the Brass Band Midden Brabant, reputedly the first English-style brass band in Belgium. The Dallas Brass was founded in 1983 by Michael Levine. It plays classical masterpieces, Dixieland, swing, Broadway, Hollywood and patriotic music. The American Band College Directors� Band is made up of 140 band directors from 35 states and three other countries. They�re all here for a two-week intensive program that brings together players, teachers, conductors and composers. The founder is McKee, who taught at Southern Oregon University in Ashland for 30 years. Cassey says he found the names of his heroes he included in his music in state and federal archives. The list includes a guy from Cassey�s old neighborhood in Chicago. It also includes several names from Oregon, including Robert Francis Rose of Ashland. Where did the idea come from? "Out of my head," Cassey says. "I thought about it for years. The way I see it, �Heroes� could be done without music. It could be done in our hearts. "We know all about the big guys, the MacArthurs, but we never know about the little guys." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA