Dance the day away

Lederhosen and bratwurst will be de rigueur this Sunday when the Laguna Community Concert Band brings Oktoberfest back to Tivoli Too.

“There are Oktoberfests in Huntington Beach and other places, but this was an ideal opportunity for an assembled band festival,” said Betty Everett, secretary of the band’s board of directors.

The festival will bring back the ever-popular “Chicken Dance,” along with works by German composers Strauss and von Suppé. A dance area will be set up for those who wish to polka or schottische their hearts away.

And yes, there will be German beer.

A variety of bands from the region will perform throughout the day.

“It’s a wonderful time of year to be outside; October just seemed like the perfect time to have an all-Orange County band festival,” Everett said.

At a rehearsal on Tuesday night, the group went over last-minute logistics in the high school’s band room. Board ex-officio Carol Reynolds led the group through the day’s paces, channeling her schoolteacher roots as she noted where to park, what to wear and when to arrive.

The festival is supported by a grant from the city’s hotel “bed” tax to the Laguna Community Concert Band, which currently boasts about 55 members, compared to eight founding members less than 10 years ago. They will play between 2:40 and 3:25 p.m. at Oktoberfest.

The professional German American Brass Band of Southern California will play five times during the afternoon, beginning from 11:30 a.m. until noon. It will return from 12:45 to 1:15 p.m., 2:10 to 2:40 p.m., 3:25 to 3:45 p.m. and 4:40 to 5 p.m.

The Goldenwest Pops will be on from noon to 12:45 p.m.; the Orange County Wind Ensemble will regale from 1:15 to 2 p.m.; a children’s performance group will be up from 2 to 2:10 p.m.; and the Huntington Beach Band will be onstage from 3:45 to 4:30 p.m.

Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider will lead a children’s singalong at 2:15.

Peter Fournier, who divides his time between the Laguna band and the Orange County Wind Ensemble, said that the latter would also perform a special “Pirates of the Caribbean” medley, as a result of the success of the recent films.

A high point for this year’s show will be a version of “Slidin’ Saints,” conducted and arranged by James Christenson of the Disneyland Band. The trombone showpiece, which will feature trombonists from the Laguna band and wind ensemble, is based on “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

Everett said that her favorite thing about Oktoberfest is the ability to compare her group with the others in attendance.

“It’s a sort of a competition in the friendliest sort of fashion,” she said.

Retirees and professionals from Laguna and its surrounding cities as far away as Fullerton flock to the concert band’s rehearsals and performances.

Two of the band’s trombonists alternately conduct the group.

“We have great conductors, and it’s a joy to work with them,” Everett said.

Conductor Ed Peterson, who taught music in the Garden Grove school district, rediscovered his trombone about five years ago, she said, after retiring from teaching and entering business.

Fellow conductor Bill Nicholls was born in Hollywood to a professional trombonist, and has had a lifelong love of the instrument.

A highlight at Oktoberfest will be a piece called “Cousins” for solo trombone and trumpet, composed by Herbert Clark, the trumpet soloist for the John Philip Sousa Band; he performed it many times with bandmate Arthur Pryor.

This weekend, the duet will be played by trombonist Brent Anderson, the librarian for the Pacific Symphony, and his girlfriend Angela Romero; at the rehearsal, she stood on tiptoe while sustaining the longer notes, side by side with her boyfriend.

Other pieces will include “Thunder and Lightening,” “Irish Rhapsody” and “The Whistler and His Dog,” a playful piece reminiscent of a dog food commercial.

Players are called to whistle during parts of the song, but Everett demurred.

“Flute players cannot whistle,” she said with a smile.

During the rehearsal, a group of high school students wandering about the campus heard the music and came closer.

Standing outside the door, they laughed and began to dance to the music, cavorting just out of sight from the band.

This kind of sporadic enthusiasm from the community is exactly what the band hopes will happen at Oktoberfest, Everett said.

“The interesting thing is that other than the German American band, none of us is paid; the rest of us play because we love music and love to share it with people,” Everett said.