AVB Community Band Concert

ASHWAUBENON — The AVB Community Band invites you to enjoy an evening of musical variety when it takes the stage of the Ashwaubenon Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Monday, April 20, at 7 p.m. for a concert titled “Come Together ... Motion & Energy.” “Combine Broadway and musical standards, a terrific vocalist, new selections by some great composers, and one of your favorite Sousa marches, it will all make for a great evening entertainment,” said Mike Ajango, director of the AVB Community Band. “This will be a great concert to invite friends to so they, too, can discover the great evenings of music we bring to the community,” he said. Doors to the Ashwaubenon PAC, located at 2391 S. Ridge Road, open at 6 p.m. Admission to the concert is at no charge, with donations graciously accepted following the concert. Perfect for family and friends of all ages, the AVB (All-Volunteer) Community Band’s April concert is sponsored by Willems Landscape Services in De Pere. We thank them for their longtime support. Our evening of music is also made possible because of our sustaining AVB Community Band Donors, advertisers and audience members who, after each concert, support the band. We also thank our many recent donors who supported us during the “Give Big Green Bay” community fundraiser Feb. 25-26. The vocalist for the evening will be Kelsey Denae, a graduate of Ashwaubenon High School, who has spent the past decade based out of New York City as a singer and actor. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Musical Theatre from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Among her favorite credits are Broadway National Tours, including “Les Miserables,” “9 to 5,” “Rent,” “Show Boat” and “Always Patsy Cline.” Locally, she will begin her second season performing with Big Mouth & the Power Tool Horns. The associate conductor of the AVB Community Band is Paul Oleksy. The narrator for the evening is Bruce Deadman. The concert begins with the rousing circus galop “They’re Off,” by composer Fred A. Jewell. Denae then joins the band to sing the Oscar-winning ballad “Colors of the Wind,” from the Disney film “Pochanontas,” by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. “Symphonic Dances” from “Fiddler on the Roof” will feature the AVB Community Band performing “Tradition,” “Perchek and the Hodel Dance” and “To Life.” Denae returns to sing “‘S Wonderful,” by George and Ira Gershwin. Written in 1927 for the Broadway show “Funny Face,” it’s one of the enduring standards of American music. The first half of the evening concludes in a fun and fabulous 1960’s style with “Selections from Hairspray,” a Broadway and movie favorite. The AVB Community Band begins the second half with “Flight of Fancy,” by composer Timothy Johnson. First-chair flutist Becky Czachor will be featured in this lovely piece showcasing imagination. Elvis Presley made the song “Can’t Help Falling in Love” famous. Denae will take the stage with the band for her own version of this romantic American standard. The AVB Community Band then performs a “micro-symphony” with the expansive "Skyward Spirits," composed by JaRod Hall and featuring themes that move between flight and nature. Denae returns to perform the beautiful “For Good” from the Broadway musical “Wicked,” composed by Stephen Schwartz An all-American favorite march, the rousing “Washington Post,” composed by John Phillip Sousa, concludes the evening. Mark your calendars for the final concert of AVB Community Band’s 2025-2026 concert season: Monday, May 11: “Come Together ... Heart & Soul,” Ashwaubenon Performing Arts Center, 2391 S. Ridge Road, Ashwaubenon. Doors open at 6 p.m., concert begins at 7 p.m. Free admission, with donations accepted. Sponsored by Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 224, they will also conduct their 5th annual “Spring Cleaning & Personal Care Collection” for area veterans in the lobby prior to the concert. Thank you in advance for your donations of personal care items for men and women, as well as cleaning supplies. All donations will be delivered to area veterans. For more information and updates, see avbcommunityband.org or like us at facebook.com/AVBCommunityBand/.

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