Centennial score

Summerlin musician selected to compose Philharmonic piece

SM/ALL/VIEWDick McGee, left, and Dick Wright, right, pratice a jazz piece during the faculty quintet rehearsal at the Community College of Southern Nevada campus Wednesday, Mar. 2, 2005. McGee was commissioned to write a piece for the Centennial celebration.---View Photo Ronda Churchill SM/ALL/VIEWTom Ferguson looks up to view his sheet music while playing during the faculty quintet practice as CCSN Wednesday, Mar. 2, 2005.---View Photo Ronda Churchill

It's not often a local musician is commissioned to compose new music for an orchestra. But then it's not often a city celebrates turning 100.

For the Las Vegas Centennial year, the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra commissioned three new works. Two of those are by out-of-state composers. Dan Welcher of the University of Texas is one. He has more than 80 works to his credit. George Walker, a professor emeritus at Rutgers University and Pulitzer Prize winner, is the other.

Joining such illustrious company is Las Vegas' own Richard McGee, Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra associate conductor. The compositions must be completed soon and are to be performed this summer and fall.

"I am looking forward with great anticipation and high expectation to the new works that are being composed for the philharmonic this coming season," said Harold Weller, the group's music director. "Our 6-year-old philharmonic is proud to give birth to works that will provide a worthy and lasting legacy for the Centennial celebration of our great city."

The Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra concert featuring McGee's music is scheduled to be performed July 4 at Hills Park, 9000 Hillpointe Road.

McGee is an accomplished musician who has written half a dozen pieces for orchestra and numerous works for big bands and trombone choirs.

"The bulk of my work has been in jazz," he said. "There was a time when all I wanted to do was compose jazz pieces. But over the last 10, 12 years, starting in the early '90s, I gradually fell in love with doing things for the orchestra. It's more challenging and there are so many different colors and emotions you can bring to the music, writing for an orchestra."

This is the second time McGee has written for the philharmonic. The first composition was for a holiday program in December 2003. He said he was chosen as the third composer for this year's celebration because he was "in the right place at the right time."

McGee is composing a piece which represents the history of the city. The eight-minute composition will be complemented by narration, to be done by Mayor Oscar Goodman.

The original music, as yet unnamed, will have three sections. The first will be a historical perspective and give a nod to American Indian contributions and the coming of the railroad. The second will honor the city's additions, such as Hoover Dam, and the military's influence. The piece will finish with a jazz and symphonic blend that will speak to the vibrancy of the city today.

"There's no way to talk about Las Vegas without including the show production aspect," McGee said, explaining the rousing way his composition will finish.

The toughest part? Finding time to write it.

Besides his role with the philharmonic, McGee is the assistant department chair of the performing arts department for the Community College of Southern Nevada. He also freelances as a trombone player and backs up performers like the Temptations, Gladys Knight and Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorm . It was the trombone that brought McGee to Las Vegas in the first place.

"I moved here from Denver, fresh out of school, thinking I'd play a year on the Strip," he said. "That was in 1981. I never intended to stay."

But stay he did. Once he completed the 13-week residency prerequisite to satisfy union rules, McGee found work at the post-fire MGM Grand, now Bally's.

There, he played for performers like Dean Martin, whom he called a "real gentleman, funny and the kind of person who made people relax." He played with Doc Severinsen, who hung out after hours with band members. And he backed up Crystal Gayle, Mac Davis and Suzanne Somers.

McGee spent eight years playing for the Folies Bergere at the Tropicana and 10 years as part of the John Haig Orchestra, which was the house band for Caesars Palace.

At Caesars he played for headliners like Ann Margret, Tony Bennett, Burt Bacharach, Natalie Cole and Johnny Mathis. McGee recalled how Mathis had the audience "almost hypnotized with his singing" and Cole "was one of the best, pure singers I ever heard."

Early in his career, McGee took note of another performer with talent, but one who never seemed to catch a big break. That performer was Clint Holmes, who eventually got recognition and now headlines at Harrah?s Las Vegas.

As a child, McGee's family moved from one town to another as his father, an oil company worker, was reassigned to various projects. Making friends was difficult until he learned the trombone at age 9. Being in a band meant instant friends, he said.

He decided to make music his career and met his wife, Joan, at music college in Denver. She is now chief administrator for the Community College of Southern Nevada's Henderson campus. McGee calls her his "best friend." They live in Summerlin and have two grown sons.

Welcher's work will debut at the Philharmonic's classical season opener Sept. 17 and 18 at UNLV's Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall. Walker's composition is slated to be performed Nov. 19.

Times and tickets for all three events have not yet been announced. For more information, contact the philharmonic office at 258-5438 or watch for updates at www.lvphil.com.