Review of “It’s Summertime,” Dexter Community Band, May 18, 2025
Review of “It’s Summertime” – Dexter Community Band, May 18, 2025
By Gordon Darr, President, Hudson Music Center
There are concerts that dazzle with sheer technical brilliance, and there are concerts that feel like a homecoming. This afternoon’s It’s Summertime by the Dexter Community Band was both.
Held at the Dexter Center for the Performing Arts, to an audience of over 200, the program closed out their concert season, while ushering in the Summer, with vibrant energy, thoughtful repertoire, and unmistakable community warmth. And for me, it was deeply personal.
Two Hudson Music Center veterans—Joseph Moore (bassoon) and Stephen West (Emcee and narrator for Casey at the Bat)—brought their artistry and deep roots in Dexter’s musical life to the fore. My personal connection with the Dexter Community Band goes back many years, as I’ve been an occasional member in the percussion section.
Perhaps the most poignant moment for me came during Gershwin’s Summertime. The featured soloist was my cousin, Richard Savitski, whose trumpet and flugelhorn performance was both technically superb and emotionally rich. He simply shined—offering a gorgeous, personal cadenza of his own creation, peppered with spontaneous improvisation that brought freshness to every phrase. His tone carried that Gershwin ache—smooth, golden, and alive in the moment.
Stephen West’s narration of Casey at the Bat was another highlight—a delightful blend of theater and rhythm that had the audience hanging on every dramatic pause and emphatic swing of the verbal bat. His voice brought Ernest Thayer’s verses to life with verve, humor, and the kind of charisma that only decades of stage presence can offer.
The concert ran just a bit over an hour—an ideal length for a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon. As the finale of their season, it left us all eager for the band’s return in the fall, promising more music, more memories.
It’s also worth noting the continued bond between the Dexter Community Chorale and the Band. Over the years, DCC has provided vocal support for their concerts. We remain eager to sing for them again, and the invitation is open for their instrumentalists to join us whenever voices and brass are called to blend.
It’s Summertime was more than a concert—it was a reunion, a promise, and a celebration of all that makes Dexter’s music community so enduring and so dear.
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Upcoming Events from HMC’s Saturday Night Stage Series:
🎹 Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata
Performed by Richard Shao, pianist (University of Michigan)
7pm, Saturday, June 14 – Faber Piano Institute, Ann Arbor
🎶 Dexter Community Chorale: Season Finale Concert
7pm, Saturday, June 28 – Monument Park, Dexter
🎤 Gordon Darr and Friends
7pm, Saturday, September 20 – Venue TBD
