The Evansville Symphonic Band promises to pack all the cheer it can into its 90-minute performance Nov. 30, and the always-festive Holiday Concert has another layer of emotion this year.
It’s the farewell show for Kim Fillingim, who for 22 years has served as the band’s conductor, plus its treasurer, property manager, board member, and board president. Fillingim debuted as a trombone player in 1970. Central High School’s auditorium at 5400 N. First Ave. plays host for the 4 p.m. show, which is free and open to the public.
Fillingim says “it’s bittersweet” to put down the baton, but “it’s time.” He’s been conductor since 2014 and also served in the role from 1998 to 2007. He retired in 2018 after 31 years as an EVSC music teacher and administrator, and he’s a past Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra member. His wife, Mary, plays bass clarinet in the symphonic band.
“I have always told the band that my two goals, as director, are to program music that makes the players want to continue playing and the audience to keep coming back to attend the concerts and support the band,” Fillingim says. “The thing I will miss the most is standing on the podium and having the best ‘seat in the house’ to hear our amazing performers and then hearing the audience’s appreciation for their great performances.”
During his last turn as conductor, Fillingim will lead the symphonic band’s 52 players in a series of pieces with some titles that might be unfamiliar, but with plenty of well-known holiday melodies baked into them. Retired Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. Superintendent David Smith, a career music teacher and the current Symphonic Band board president, snares the baton for the band’s performance of John Higgins’ “Christmas on Broadway” that Fillingim says children in the audience will love.
Evansville Philharmonic Chorus Master Andrea Drury and guitarist Matt Kincaid join the band for Todd Sheehan’s arrangement of Christian pop duo FOR KING + COUNTRY’s “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” The show wraps with “Auld Lang Syne,” the traditional Scottish favorite based on the arrangement for Mannheim Steamroller by Chip Davis and arranged for the band by Robert Longfield, and then the traditional holiday encore. “It’s ‘Stars and Stripes Forever,’ but with Christmas carols interweaved with the melody,” Fillingim says. The ensemble relies on donations, grants, and sponsorships, so donations are accepted and appreciated.
The Holiday Concert, Fillingim says, will be a good show to end on — the audience can expect some songs that will get your toes tapping and others that are more reflective. “We try not to repeat familiar holiday songs in the concert, even though one medley will have a short version of a piece that is featured later. We play a lot of very familiar things, but there are interesting takes on them, played by an incredible bunch of musicians on stage.”
One of those musicians, percussionist Gregg Martin, says Fillingim’s contributions to the symphonic band are immense.
“He was always very professional and always challenged the band as far as the level of music we were playing,” says Martin, who’s performed with the band for about 10 years. “He always kept it fun and programmed great concerts. He was just a great conductor and got the best out of the band he always could.”
