“I am very proud of our ‘Side-by-Side concerts’ as part of our educational outreach activities,” says Ronald Demkee, Allentown Band Conductor.

“This concert combines the talents of Allentown Band musicians with 50 stellar student musicians from 17 high schools.”

The Allentown Band’s annual “Side-by-Side Concert” is 4 p.m. April 28, Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown.

The program begins with “March Provinciana” by Mexican composer Carlos Chávez (1899-1978). This piece is a 1963 wind ensemble arrangement of Chavez’s 1935 orchestral arrangement, “Oberatura Republicana,” featuring the 1891 “Zacatecas March” by Genaro Codina.

The concert continues with the very popular “Danzón No. 2” by Mexican composer Arturo Marquez (born 1950). Commissioned by the National Autonomous University of Mexico, it premiered in 1994 in Mexico City and is based on the danzón dance style, a very important part of folklore of the Mexican state of Veracruz.

The next two selections, Arthur Pryor’s “Love’s Enchantment” and Claude Debussy’s “Beau Soir,” feature guest trombonist Joseph Alessi, Principal Trombone, New York Philharmonic.

Says Demkee, “I have tried to get Mr. Alessi here for several years and I am so pleased he is available for this concert. His tone is indescribable; phenomenal.”

Alessi, who has performed as soloist with the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point, U.S. Army Band (Pershing’s Own) and the U.S. Marine Band (President’s Own), is on the faculty of The Julliard School.

The concert’s first half concludes with “People Who Live in Glass Houses” by John Philip Sousa, arranged by guest conductor Director Emeritus Colonel John R. Bourgeois, USMC (Ret.), United States Marine Band.

Sousa composed the work in 1909 before embarking on his first world tour with the Sousa Band. He humorously named each movement after the beverages of the countries of origin: The Champagne; The Rhine Wines; The Whiskies – Scotch, Irish, Bourbon and Rye, and Convention of the Cordials.

After intermission, the high school students join the Allentown Band in performance of Alfred Reed’s “El Camino Real,” a Latin fantasy composed in 1985.

Trombonist Alessi joins the ensemble in Georg Lohmann’s “Bayrische Polka” and Giacomo Puccini’s popular “Nessun Dorma.”

Colonel Bourgeois returns to the stage to conduct his arrangement of Richard Wagner’s “Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral” from Lohengrin.

“The audience will enjoy the ending of the Bourgeois arrangement,” says Demkee. “It adds fanfares to include two antiphonal trumpet trios and organ.”

The concert closes with Allentown Band favorite, John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

Allentown Band, “Side-by-Side Concert,” 4 p.m. April 28, Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown. Free admission. Tickets not required. Information: https://allentownband.com