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New Horizons Band ready to perform spring concert

Submitted Photo The New Horizons Band of Western New York will present its Spring Concert at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25 in the Harry A. King Concert Hall on the SUNY Fredonia Campus. There is no admission charge for this event.

The New Horizons Band of Western New York will present its Spring Concert at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25. The free concert will be held in the Harry A. King Concert Hall on the SUNY Fredonia Campus.

Dr. Katherine M. Levy, conductor, will start the concert with “Star Spangled Banner,” arranged by Jack Stamp; followed by “Temple of the Gods,” by Sergei Taneyev and arranged by Andrew Glover; “On an American Spiritual,” by David R. Holsinger; “Peacemaker – March,” by Karl L. King and arranged by James Swearingen; “Nimrod,” by Edward Elgar and arranged by Alfred Reed; “Caprice: For Winds and Percussion,” by Rebecca Jarvis; “The Belle of Chicago,” by John Philip Sousa; “Tennessee Salute,” arranged by Jay Dawson; and “Bacharach & David,” arranged by John Cacavas.

“Relativo,” by Robert W. Smith and “Deir in De,” an Irish lullaby by Warren Barker will be conducted by John Krestic. “Pageant, Op. 59 (1953),” by Vincent Persichetti and “Selections from West Side Story,” by Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein and arranged by W. J. Duthoit will be conducted by Donald Keddie. Pauline Emilson will finish the concert conducting “Jamaican Rumba,” by Arthur Benjamin and arranged by Philip J. Lang.

The audience is welcome to “Meet and Greet” with the performers directly after the concert in front of the stage.

Members of the New Horizons Band of Western New York live in the following communities: Angola, Bradford (Pennsylvania), Brocton, Cassadaga, Collins, Derby, Dunkirk, Forestville, Fredonia, Gerry, Gowanda, Hamburg, Jamestown, Irving, Lakewood, Lily Dale, Mayville, Portland, Ripley, Sheridan, Silver Creek, Sinclairville, South Dayton and Westfield.

The band, under the direction of Levy, was launched by the SUNY Fredonia School of Music 12 years ago, and is living proof that, when it comes to learning to play a musical instrument, it truly is “never too late.” New Horizons Band members, who are at least 50 years old, learn to play a band instrument, return to playing a band instrument after a long absence, or continue to improve playing an instrument they have long enjoyed.

The band program includes two weekly group lessons on an instrument and two weekly band rehearsals at SUNY Fredonia’s Mason Hall. The band has an enrollment of more than 60 musicians. The average band member age is 65. Band member ages range from the early 50s to the early 80s.

By popular demand, special New Horizons Band-Only sessions are held during the months of January and July. No lessons are offered during the special sessions.

Dr. Levy, an associate professor of Music Education and head of the music education area at SUNY Fredonia, conducts the band. Advanced music education students in the School of Music provide group lesson instruction. Levy was introduced to New Horizons in 1995 when she became the brass instructor for one of the first New Horizons Bands in Iowa City, Iowa. She has conducted New Horizons Bands in Iowa and Georgia, and she founded a New Horizons Band in Hagerstown, Maryland.

“Music making is just too much fun to leave only to younger folks,” Levy said. “Almost anyone can enjoy learning to play a musical instrument when good instruction, a friendly environment, and lots of helping hands are available.”

The NHBWNY will rehearse Mondays and Wednesdays from 3 to 4:30 p.m. from late June throughout July at Fredonia’s School of Music. Former players wishing to “reacquaint” themselves with their instruments can join at any time, and novices should join in the fall 2018 term, which will begin in September. A small tuition fee covers the cost of instruction and music. No previous background in music or on an instrument is necessary to join. Members can testify that it is possible to learn to play an instrument as a senior adult!

The band will be performing Saturday, July 7, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Farmers’ Market in Barker Common in Fredonia; Thursday, July 19, from 3:15 to 5:15 p.m. at the Chautauqua County Fairgrounds in Dunkirk; Thursday, July 26, at Ryckman Park in Brocton; and Wednesday, Aug. 1, at Barker Common in Fredonia.

The New Horizons Band of Western New York is part of the Musical Journeys Program, a community outreach project offered in the Fredonia School of Music.

More information about New Horizons music efforts and the New Horizons Band of Western New York is available online at www.fredonia.edu/music/community/newhorizons.asp or by contacting Janet Stout at 549-3386 or emailing her at djstout9@verizon.net. Information about the International New Horizons project is available at www.newhorizonsmusic.org.

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