Four Free Veterans Concerts During Summer of 2012
By Editor at June 15, 2024 | 10:30 am | Print
In times of war and troubles throughout the world, Mayor Timothy E. O’Brien wishes to support Veterans. Mayor O’Brien, the Parks and Recreation Commission, and the Veterans Commission are very pleased to notify the residents of New Britain and surrounding towns that the New Britain Parks and Recreation Department’s Veterans Affairs Division has put together a comprehensive four-concert series of Veterans Concerts to honor all Veterans and members of the military. The concerts are free and open to the public. The concerts will take place at the Darius Miller Music Shell in Walnut Hill Park on summer evenings starting at 7 p.m. The concerts will feature the U.S. Air Force Band of Liberty Concert Band on Tuesday, July 31st, the 102nd Army Band on Thursday, August 2nd, the 1st Company Governors Footguard Band on Monday, August 13th and the Navy Band Northeast’s Rhode Island Sound on Tuesday, August 14th.
Mayor Timothy E. O’Brien noted that, “It’s more important than ever to bring the community together to pay tribute to all Veterans who have served our country and have returned to our state.”
Parks and Recreation Commission Chairman Angelo D’Alfonso stated, “One of my goals this year was to bring new and exciting musical entertainment to New Britain. I am so pleased that the Parks and Recreation Department was able to secure these bands to perform at beautiful Walnut Hill Park.”
Veterans Commission Chairman Peter Scirpo added, “We hope all of the Veterans in the greater New Britain area support the concerts in large numbers.”
Bill DeMaio, Director of Parks and Recreation, remarked that, “New Britain is a tremendously patriotic city. It is important to have events like the Veterans Concerts to honor our Veterans, especially at this time when so many Veterans have been able to return home after having been deployed for so long.”
The first concert of the series features the Concert Band, the largest component of the U.S. Air Force Band of Liberty, travelling from Hanscom Air Force Base near Boston, Massachusetts. The Concert Band is a 40-piece ensemble which is committed to the best in traditional, contemporary and popular wind band repertoire in its performances at music conferences and symposiums throughout the New England region, New Jersey and New York, such as the annual Festival of Bands at Boston’s Faneuil Hall and the New England Intercollegiate Band Festival at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. Music students, educators and lay listeners alike will find a performance by this dynamic ensemble a memorable musical experience.
The second concert of the series welcomes the 102nd Army Band back to New Britain. This Band is a 32-piece Army National Guard Band based in Rockville, Connecticut, which features a brass quintet and plays concert songs, jazz, and rock music. This Band marched in the 2010 New Britain Memorial Day Parade.
The third of the Veterans Concerts features the 1st Company Governors Footguard Band, a 40-piece ensemble that has performed in New Britain’s Summer Music Festival Concerts for many years, recently marched in the 2012 New Britain Memorial Day Parade, and includes clarinets, flutes, trumpets, bassoons, French horns, trombones, baritones and tubas as well as a full concert percussion section. They are sometimes supplemented by a vocalist and an electric bass. Other recent memorable band performances included the launching and commissioning of the submarine USS Hartford, the 350th Anniversary celebration of York, Pennsylvania, annual appearances at the Hartford Riverfest celebration, the “Convergence” parade at Lincoln Center in New York, the 225th birthday of Connecticut’s Old State House, Fourth of July Parades in Philadelphia and Washington DC, the Centennial Concert at the Bushnell Memorial’s Belding Theater, the Festival of Trees at the Wadsworth Athenaeum, the State Veterans Home and Hospital, the Governor’s Inauguration Day ceremonies every four years, and at many seasonal celebrations at the Foot Guard’s Armory.
The final Veterans Concert features the Navy Band Northeast’s Rhode Island Sound, which is the most contemporary sounding group of the Navy Band Northeast, entertaining audiences with music ranging from rhythm and blues to classic rock and has performed current popular music at high schools throughout New England. Their versatility and showmanship has kept them in great demand since their inception in 1974.
For more information, to sponsor a Concert, or to make a tax-deductible donation in support of the Concerts, please contact Sandy Keefe, Veterans Affairs Clerk, at 860-826-3362 or [email protected] or donations can also be mailed to the New Britain Parks and Recreation Department, City Hall Room 302, 27 West Main Street, New Britain, CT 06051. Please consider supporting these special events in New Britain which honor all Veterans and members of the military.
