Eagles Band Community Concert Coming to Pittsfield Nov. 4
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Eagles Band's annual Community Concert returns to the Colonial Theatre next week, featuring a range of musical works from the 1700s to the modern day.
On Friday, Nov. 4, the free event will include a more than 60-musician concert band and the stage band. It will be opened by the Eagles' trombone ensemble.
The concert begins at 7 p.m. and the trombone ensemble will begin shortly after doors open at 6:15 p.m.
"This is an opportunity to hear the Eagles concert band and other ensembles at the Colonial Theatre," stage band conductor and board President James Stakenas said.
"It's a free concert and we're very excited about presenting it to the community and hope people take advantage of this wonderful music that's being performed."
Music fans will find recognizable tunes on the program such as "Somewhere" from "The West Side Story" Broadway musical and "Yesterday" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney as well as centuries-old classics.
One of the pieces, "Of Our New Day Begun" by Omar Thomas, was written in 2015.
Timothy Skinner will join the performance as a clarinet soloist, performing a piece by the Romantic composer Carl Maria Von Weber. Skinner currently teaches at a number of nearby higher education institutions including Westfield State University and Smith College.
"This concert typically for the last five or 10 years has featured a soloist," principal conductor Carl Jenkins said.
"Either somebody who's quite local or someone who maybe who grew up in this area or something, has some connection."
Steve Livingston will also join as a guest conductor for the stage band, beginning with an upbeat piece called "Movin' Uptown" by Benny Carter. Livingston is a nearly lifelong musician and performs with the Eagles trombone ensemble, jazz ensemble, brass ensemble, concert band, and sings with the Berkshire Lyric Chorus.
Stakenas pointed out that there will be more soloists in the stage band.
"What's really kind of neat is you get to see the diversity of our playing because all of these people when they're done playing in the stage band will turn around and play in the concert band," he added.
This concert, in its 14th year, usually draws hundreds of attendees. It is one of the band's three premier concerts, the others being a spring concert and a holiday concert at =First United Methodist Church.
The Eagles Community Band has been performing music in the Berkshires and beyond for nearly 90 years. The group features musicians from ages 15 to 95 and plays throughout the year.
The bulk of this concert's expenses is covered by the Feigenbaum Foundation. It is also supported by the Pittsfield Cultural Council and Berkshire Theatre Group.
While the event is free, donations are always accepted and appreciated.
Seats must be reserved for the event. To do so, call the theater's box office at 413-997-4444 or go to www.berkshiretheatregroup.org.
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