Strike up the band: Bill seeks Capitol theme music
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Wanted: A new song that sums up a triumphant mood about a century-old building that has just undergone a $310 million facelift.
The Legislature is mulling a bill, introduced Monday, that would provide $5,000 toward composition of original music to be played at the grand reopening celebration of the Capitol in August, when a restoration project that lasted several years is due to be fully finished. The Capitol reopened to the public last month but some touch-ups continue.
Sen. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, said the completion is a big deal worthy of a big bash.
"It's a great celebration. It's a state building; it's a state project. We're all very proud," Abeler said. "What better than to have an original song to celebrate that written by the Minnesota State Band and all those incredible musicians."
The grant would come out of the state's cultural and heritage fund, which is fed by a voter-approved sales tax. That means it wouldn't compete with money for schools, health care or other basic state programs.
Abeler, who has a Democratic cosponsor in Sen. Chris Eaton of Brooklyn Center, is envisioning an upbeat symphonic march, something on par with the University of Minnesota "Rouser."
"It could be amazing. We have some really talented artists and musicians, and if they do it right this could be a song that endures for time. And if it goes bad, we're like, 'We're glad that's over,'" Abeler said. "But I hope it's the kind of song that we look back and it equals the majesty and the amazing work that the Capitol has had done to it, and Minnesota as being a great state and that it exemplifies all of that."
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