Brooklyn Center Presents West Point Band 2/27

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College presents the West Point Band on Sunday, February 27, 2011 at 2pm. This free concert will include military marches, the "Armed Forces Medley," and some of the greatest classical music of all time.

The concert will open with an arrangement of the overture from Gioachino Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville, arranged by the band's own commander Lieutenant Colonel Jim Keene. One of the most frequently performed operas in North America, The Barber of Seville is immediately recognizable to both opera buffs as well as aficionados of Bugs Bunny cartoons. Staying with the theme of music for the stage, the concert then moves on to Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, arranged by Paul Lavender.

Staff Sergeant Torin Olsen will solo on Derek Bourgeois' Piccolo Picante, a piece that requires both technical prowess and elegant lyricism. Staff Sgt. Olsen will also perform Ian Clarke's Maya, which takes as its influence from the Hindu culture and the power of certain gods to produce illusions.

The second half of the concert will feature the band's vocalist, Master Sergeant MaryKay Messenger, performing a number of patriotic selections, including the perennial favorite "God Bless America" and a medley of tunes by George M. Cohan.

Tickets to this event are free and may be obtained by sending a written request, along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope, to Brooklyn Center, PO Box 100163, Brooklyn, NY 11210, attn: West Point Band tickets. Tickets may also be obtained in person at the Brooklyn Center box office. There is a limit of six tickets per household.

About the West Point Band
The West Point Band is the oldest premier band in the U.S. Army, performing concerts, ceremonies, and at athletic events for the U.S. Corps of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, NY. It has also been heard around the Greater Hudson Valley and other locations throughout the United States, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and at Tanglewood. The band has collaborated several times with the New York Philharmonic on Independence Day celebrations in July of 2008 and 2010, as well as on December holiday concerts in 2009 and 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City.

At Carnegie Hall, the West Point Band premiered Morton Gould's Symphony for Band in celebration of the U.S. Military Academy's sesquicentennial in 1952. Fifty years later, the band returned to Carnegie Hall to celebrate the Academy's bicentennial with selected works from more than 35 commissions that honored the 200 year tradition. Composers who wrote for that project include Samuel Adler, Eric Ewazen, Donald Grantham, Joseph Turrin, and James Kimo Williams.

In April 2009, the band was invited to perform "The Star Spangled Banner" at the first home game in the new Yankee Stadium. The ensemble was also involved in a number of events commemorating the quadricentennial of the exploration of the Hudson River in 2009.

Over the band's 194 year history, it has performed for numerous U.S. Presidents, Heads of State, and foreign dignitaries. The West Point Band recently received the Colonel George S. Howard Citation of Musical Excellence for Military Concert Bands. Please visit www.westpointband.com concert schedules and free music downloads.

About Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Founded in 1954, the mission of Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts is to present outstanding performing arts and arts education programs, reflective of Brooklyn's diverse communities, at affordable prices. Brooklyn Center's presentations explore both the classical traditions and the boldest contemporary performances, embracing the world culture that defines Brooklyn. Brooklyn Center welcomes over 70,000 people to the 2,400 seat Walt
Whitman Theatre each season, and boasts one of the largest arts education programs in the borough, serving 46,000 schoolchildren from over 300 schools annually with its SchoolTime series. In recognition of its commitment to quality family programming, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts was voted Brooklyn's Best Theater of Theater Group for Kids as part of Nickelodeon's 2009 ParentsConnect Parents' Picks Awards.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College
presents
The West Point Band
Sunday, February 27, 2011 at 2PM
Tickets: free

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Walt Whitman Theatre at Brooklyn College
2 train to Flatbush Avenue / on-site paid parking available

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts' programs are made possible in part with public funding from the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts. Funding for the 2010-2011 season is provided by: Target; JP Morgan Chase; Con Edison; Macy's Foundation; Brooklyn Community Foundation; Mertz Gilmore Foundation; National Grid; TD Bank; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation; New England Foundation for the Arts; Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour; The Harkness Foundation for Dance; Health Plus; and the Lila Acheson Wallace Theater Fund, established in the New York Community Trust by founders of The Reader's Digest Association. Additional support provided by CNG Publications, The Brooklyn Eagle, and WBGO Jazz 88. The Sheraton Brooklyn New York Hotel is the official hotel of Brooklyn Center's 2010-2011 season. Backstage catering is graciously provided by Applebee's.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts gratefully acknowledges generous support from the Members of the Brooklyn Delegation to the New York State Assembly and Speaker Sheldon Silver; Members of the Brooklyn Delegation to the New York State Senate and Majority Conference Leader John L. Sampson; Members of the Brooklyn Delegation to the New York City Council and Speaker Christine C. Quinn; and Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Kate Levin.

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