ASHBY – The Ashby Band will return to Allen Field for a July 3 celebration with a concert of patriotic music at 7:30 p.m., followed by a bonfire by the Ashby Fire Department.
Musical selections include marches, medleys of American songs, an armed forces salute, “American Civil War Fantasy” and George M. Cohan’s “Star Spangled Spectacular.” The bonfire will be lit after “Stars and Stripes Forever.”
“The July 3 concert and bonfire is back after a two-year hiatus,” said Bob Healy, manager of the Ashby Band. “All concerts are a celebration of the return to normalcy in our lives.”
The professional brass band of 32 musicians will continue its summer season with six concerts in the town. All concerts are scheduled at 7:30 p.m. and will include marches, light classical overtures, show tunes, pop medleys, kids’ favorites and big band numbers.
The concerts will take place on Wednesdays July 6, 13, 20 and 27, August 3 and 10.
Some of this year’s highlights include music from “Grease”, “The Kind and I”, “Guys and Dolls”, “Les Miserables”, “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Porgy and Bess”, as well as tributes to Benny Goodman, the Beach Boys, Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra.
Composers featured this year include Marvin Hamlisch, Richard Rodgers, George Gershwin, Gilbert and Sullivan, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Irving Berlin.
Children’s selections include excerpts from “The Little Mermaid”, “Frozen”, “The Lion King”, as well as “Disney at the Movies” and “Disney at the Oscars”.
“Ashby’s concerts are a step back in time when families would come together to socialize and listen to music for all age groups,” he said. “It’s a great New England tradition.”
As always, refreshments will be provided by various groups in the town of Ashby. Rain dates will occur at the end of the season.
