PC Live On Stage

Musician of the Month: Howard Brodbeck

Norma Whitley

Howard Brodbeck was born in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and grew up in Akron, Ohio. He studied clarinet as a child; however, he didn’t like it or practice and gave it up after a couple of years. When Howard was between seventh and eighth grade he convinced his parents to allow him to learn to play drums so they agreed to rent a snare drum. They told him that if he didn’t practice they would return it. Six months later, Howard’s mother would ask, “Would you please stop playing the drum for a little while?”

Howard’s only drum teacher was Bob Vance, a local jazz drummer who worked at the music store. After a few lessons, Howard convinced Vance to teach him the whole drum set if time remained after his snare drum lessons. Howard then started coming to his lessons 200% prepared and moving on to the next week’s assignments so he would have time left to get whole drum set instruction. Bob Vance liked that.

His teacher explained to Howard’s mother that he was doing okay on snare, but he showed a real proficiency on the entire drum set and suggested allowing Howard to get a drum set. After consideration, his parents “allowed” him to use some of his paper route college fund money to purchase a used Japanese-made Del Ray drum set which led to Howard’s becoming the high school big band drummer in freshman year! He then traded in the Del Ray set for a silver sparkle 1967 Ludwig Down Beat set with Zildjian cymbals, just like Ringo’s, which he still has today along with the Ludwig sales catalogue.

Howard and his wife Cheryl met at college in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and married in 1977, a year after graduating. They have three children and in 2016 all three children had their first child. They live in Verrado, Arizona, Cary, North Carolina and Portishead, UK.

Howard is a mechanical engineer with an MBA. He and his wife Cheryl were transferred numerous times during his working career; finally he became the regional vice president managing about a half billion dollar chemical business in the Midwest.

While traveling on a business trip to Arizona in 2003, Howard and Cheryl visited friends and homeowners Ole and Edie Lodberg in PebbleCreek. Before leaving they put a deposit on a lot! Both being analytical engineers, neither had done anything impulsive like this before.

After retiring in 2009, Howard bought a Martin guitar and taught himself how to play. He also learned to play bass guitar, harmonica, banjo, ukulele (one song) and a little bit of piano. He now plays guitar and sings in a country band with resident Robert Hover and is part of an acoustic duo with resident Gene Fioretti. Howard also joined the PebbleCreek Big Band in 2009 as the drummer.

Howard also enjoys making recordings of old rock music by performing all the instruments and voice tracks himself, tinkering with old diesel cars and most of all spending time with  his grandchildren!

Big Band update

Norma Whitley

Once again the PebbleCreek Big Band will begin rehearsals in October in preparation for the next performance of Burst of Music, which will take place in the spring of 2018. Many days and hours of practice go into making Burst of Music one of the best resident performances at the Renaissance Theater each year.

At this time a few openings are available in the saxophone, trumpet and drum sections. Residents wishing to find out more information about applying for any of the openings should contact Bruce Birnel at [email protected].

Save the dates for the next performances, Burst of Music XI, which will take place in the evenings of March 22, 23 and 24. More details regarding ticket sales will be posted in the future.

Back to Nashville

Laurie Farquhar

It’s been five years since ShowTime’s hit musical revue, Nashville to Vegas, had music lovers dancing in their seats at the Renaissance Theater and now it is time to get the tour bus “on the road again” as ShowTime presents Back to Nashville in November.

Back to Nashville will make the return trip from glitzy Las Vegas to Nashville’s iconic country music venues with songs made famous by such legendary performers as Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Blake Shelton and Hank Williams. Along the way, the audience will be treated to performances by Dance Fusion and comedy by PebbleCreek favorite, Melissa Kallett. Director Chanca Morrell has assembled an impressive cast of singers, dancers and comedians.

But Back to Nashville will not only showcase new songs, dances and comedy routines. It will also launch ShowTime’s new online ticketing system. Show patrons will be able to purchase tickets online using a credit card (VISA and MasterCard). Traditional ticket sales at the theater and the Eagle’s Nest kiosk will also be available for those who wish to use cash or checks for their purchases. More information about the online ticketing system will be available in upcoming issues of the PebbleCreek Post and on the PebbleCreek Yahoo group.

Back to Nashville will run six nights from Monday, November 13 to Saturday, November 18. Tickets go on sale both online and in the Renaissance Theater at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 14. So, put on your cowboy boots and grab your diamonds because this is one tour bus you don’t want to miss.

Singers resume rehearsals

Donna Swagger

PebbleCreek Singers summer hiatus is quickly coming to an end. After a three-month break, the PC Singers will reconvene on Monday, August 14 at 2:30 p.m. in the Renaissance Theater to begin rehearsals for the 2017 fall concert season. This will be the start of a three-month journey of full-chorus and section rehearsals in preparation for the ever popular annual Christmas concert. Performance dates are Tuesday, November 28 through Saturday, December 2.

The concert has been in the planning stages since May. In June, Director Gail Kennedy made final music selections and ordered music. She met with Section Leaders in July to preview the music, set the rehearsal schedule and prepare music packets. The packets, along with a practice CD, will be ready for distribution at the first rehearsal. Director Kennedy has chosen a repertoire of traditional carols, holiday pop numbers, novelty tunes and sacred octavos that promises to please any musical palate! The 18 songs will be performed by both the full chorus and small ensembles.

It’s not too late to become a part of the PC Singers. The chorus is currently accepting applications for all voice parts. The audition process is simple and auditions are private. Any PebbleCreek resident interested in auditioning for the chorus may contact Nancy Gustafson at 623-215-3292 or pick up an application form at the club information center (just across from the pro shop) in Eagle’s Nest Clubhouse.