The Ontario Chaffey Community Show Band will present “The Wonderful World of Disney” on Monday May 16, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. at the Merton Hill Auditorium located at the southwest corner North Euclid Avenue and Fifth Street on the campus of Chaffey High School in Ontario.
The performance is sponsored in part by Al Boling, the retired city manager of Ontario, and Jennifer Boling.
Merton Hill Auditorium can be identified by its white bell tower.
The Woodwind Celebration Ensemble will present a pre-concert recital in the auditorium lobby at 7:00 p.m. The concert will be narrated by Al Boling and Susan Petrocelli, the former director of community relations for the Chaffey Joint Unified School District.
The main performance begins at 7:30 p.m. and is free to the public.
The show band’s May concert features a collection of memorable hits from Walt Disney cartoons, television programs, and films, including several familiar to the baby boomer set.
Featured soloists include the show band’s trombonist Stephen Cavaretta and musician/dancer Kathy Soderlund.
Cavaretta is credited with holding down the show band’s trombone section. He will perform “Stay Awake” from the film Mary Poppins.
Soderlund, who plays the alto saxophone and is a dancer of some renown, has entertained the show band’s audiences for many years with her performances. She will be featured in “A Whole New World” from Alladin and a medley of themes from the Zorro films. Soderlund has created the choreography for both selections.
The Ontario Chaffey Community Show Band’s special guest artist is a young and talented vocalist, Charlie Nolte. Nolte was raised in Pomona, though he spent the last year completing his first year of college at Brigham Young University Idaho in Rexburg.
Nolte has sung from an extremely young age and spent his childhood honing his craft alongside both his mother Aimee, who has performed with the Ontario Chaffey Show Band several times, and his top-notch vocal coach, Sara Leib.
Nolte has appeared on stage and screen since the age of five, appearing in national commercials for Suave and Mercedes Benz. He has played the role of Pinocchio in Shrek, The Musical and performed with the Bonita High School Chamber Singers. In the fall, Nolte plans to attend Fullerton College and study music and then continue on to the Berklee School of Music to finish up his vocal performance degree. He’s thrilled to be singing some of his very favorite Disney songs with the Ontario Chaffey Community Show Band. Nolte will be featured on “Evermore” from Beauty and the Beast, “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2, and “Tonight” from West Side Story.
The  musicians of the show band will open the performance with a medley of memorable hits entitled “Disney’s Magic Kingdom” that include “When You Wish Upon a Star,” “Someday My Prince Will Come,” “Mickey Mouse March,” “Heigh-Ho,” and “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah.” The concert’s finale is entitled “Disneyland Adventure” and is a collection of Disney melodies that Disneyland visitors have been hearing for many years. The medley includes “It’s a Small World,” “Ballad of Davy Crockett,” “Chim Chim Cheree,” “The One and Only Genuine Original Family Band,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo,” “Whistle While You Work,” “Yo-Ho-Ho” and “Supercalifragillisticexppialidocious.”
Community members are invited to come to Merton Hill Auditorium for a night of music and to bring their family and friends.
Those inclined to do so can support the Ontario Chaffey Community Show Band by visiting and feeding the Hungry Tuba located in the lobby of the auditorium. The concert will be broadcast on local Ontario cable Channel 3. Check your cable listings for the date and time.
The show band will also perform in the Memorial Day Remembrance Program at Bellevue Memorial Park at 10:00 a.m. on Monday May 30, 2022. The show band will join members of the Ontario Fire Department, Ontario Police Department, and local veterans from each branch of the services in paying tribute to military personnel who have died while serving in the United States armed forces. The program will be narrated by former Ontario Mayor Gary Ovitt. The guest vocalist will be Brian Detwiler and the keynote address will be given by Dr. Chris Hollister, assistant superintendent in the Chaffey Joint Union High School District.
The Ontario Chaffey Community Show Band was founded in 1985 by R. Jack Mercer and is now under the direction of Dr. Gabe Petrocelli and assistant directors David Schaafsma and Pat Arnold. Band members represent at least two dozen communities throughout Southern California. Adult musicians and students are invited to participate. Rehearsals are held on Monday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Chaffey High School Jack Mercer Band Room. The band performs monthly concerts on the campus of Chaffey High School as well as at other venues throughout the community. All performances are free to the public.
For more information about the concert visit the Ontario Chaffey Community Show Band website at www.showband.net or contact Dr. Petrocelli at gabe@showband.net. The “Friends of the Ontario Chaffey Community Show Band” is a registered charity under Internal Revenue Code Section 501 (c)(3); EIN # 46-1422958. Donations are welcomed. Checks may be made out to: Friends of the OCCSB, P.O. Box 1512, Ontario, CA 91762. Concert goers interested in being included on the show band mailing list are encouraged to fill out an information card at the band’s events. The Ontario Chaffey Community Show Band can be followed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and its website at www.showband.net.