“Mr. Lincoln’s Bandmaster” is the title of the Tuesday, Feb. 8, meeting of the Fort Atkinson Woman’s Club.
The club will meet at 1:15 p.m. at the Dwight Foster Public Library, 209 Merchants Ave., Fort Atkinson, in the meeting room, a recent press release announced.
Ed Pierce, Fort Atkinson, will present the program about Italian immigrant Francis Maria Scala. Along with President Lincoln, a great lover of music, he developed the U.S. Marine Band and served as the first director, according to the release.
Pierce is a St. Francis native and 1971 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where he earned a degree in music education, specializing in directing elementary bands.
He directed the Lebanon Community Band for 35 years before retiring and the Palmyra Eagle Community Band for more than 25 years. Among Pierce’s historical credentials are chief historian of the 1st Brigade Band of Watertown, member of several Civil War Roundtables, and a lifetime member of the Ulysses S. Grant Association and Presidential Library, the release continued.
Pierce was inducted into the Wisconsin Bandmasters Association in 2003 and the Phi Beta Mu Professional Band Directors fraternity in 2007. He was awarded “Bandmaster of the Year” in 2014.
Members of the public are invited to attend this and other Fort Atkinson Woman’s Club programs. One need not be a member, a woman or even a resident of Fort Atkinson, the release stated.
Attendees are asked to wear a mask for the comfort of all members.
For more information, contact Beth Gore at FORTWC@yahoo.com.
“Mr. Lincoln’s Bandmaster,” Francis Maria Scala. Public domain/Library of Congress photo.
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