Oak Ridge Community Band Memorial Day concert to honor veterans
Oak Ridge Community Band members have always looked forward to the summer season of outdoor concerts held in A.K. Bissell Park, and this year’s Memorial Day Concert promises to be an outstanding program of music dedicated to veterans and to the men and women currently serving in the United States Armed Forces.
The band extends a special invitation to all area veterans and military personnel to attend the concert for recognition and a salute to them for their service to our country.
This concert will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, May 29, at the Performing Arts Pavilion in A.K. Bissell Park, 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike. There is no admission fee, although donations are accepted to help offset band expenses.
This is an outdoor performance, so the public is encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for seating, and a paved area is available for wheelchairs. A popular tradition at the Community Band summer concerts is Razzleberry's Ice Cream Lab, which provides refreshments for the audiences.
To honor and recognize our veterans and currently serving men and women, the Community Band will perform Tom Knox’s “Armed Forces Medley 72” which incorporates the theme songs of the Army, the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Air Force, and the Marines. All veterans and military people will be invited to stand during the song that represents their branch of military service.
The Community Band will begin the program with “The Star Spangled Banner,” followed by a program of Americana music including Joseph Willcox Jenkins’ “American Overture,” Robert Russell Bennett’s “Suite of Old American Dances,” and Jim Curnow’s arrangement of “The Cowboys,” written by popular modern-day composer John Williams for the 1972 John Wayne movie “The Cowboys.”
And no Memorial Day program would be complete without John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever” march. So make your plans to end the Memorial Day holiday weekend on a “high note” and enjoy the unofficial beginning of summer!
The Memorial Day concert will be the first of three outdoor concert events performed by the Oak Ridge Community Band, followed by July 4 and Labor Day, Sept. 4.
The Oak Ridge Community Band is directed by Shaun Salem and meets on Thursday evenings at the First Baptist Church for rehearsals. Area musicians, especially college and high school students, are invited to join for the summer concert series and can call 865-202-2773 for more information. Also, the public can visit the band’s website at www.orcb.org and keep up with band current events on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/OakRidgeCommunityBand.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Oak Ridge Community Band Memorial Day concert to honor veterans
