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AVB Community Band St. Patrick's Day Concert "Symphony of Love"
On St. Patrick’s Day, Monday, March 17, the AVB Community Band invites you to celebrate the holiday with a wonderful evening of music titled “Symphony of Love.”
The concert will be a musical treat for audience members, featuring great classics of music and the beautiful voice of soprano Rita Baretta, who is making her debut with the 75-member AVB Community Band.
The concert begins at 7 p.m. at the Ashwaubenon Performing Arts Center (PAC), 2391 S. Ridge Road in Ashwaubenon. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Admission to the concert is at no charge, with donations gratefully accepted to help continue the all-volunteer band’s mission of “Music for a Lifetime.”
The evening is sponsored by Schroeder’s Flowers.
“I've known Rita since 2006 when we shared the stage in the musical "The King & I" for the St. Norbert College (SNC) Summer Music Theatre,” said Mike Ajango, director of the AVB Community Band. “She has an absolutely gorgeous voice. We will all be in for a treat.”
Baretta is a Green Bay native and St. Norbert College vocal performance graduate.
She spent many professional years in California, performing leading roles with the San Diego Light Opera, Fullerton Civic Light Opera, Long Beach Civic Light Opera and Sacramento Music Circus, as well as the Los Angeles Opera, Opera Pacific and the Orange County Master Chorale.
She also traveled with the national company of “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.”
Locally, Baretta has performed with the Green Bay Symphony, Pamiro Opera Company and the Play by Play Theatre Company. She is the founder of the holiday chorale troupe “The Yuletide Carolers.”
“This season I've tried to ‘spread the love around’ by featuring many different musical genres,” said Ajango. “This concert is an opportunity to hear tunes by awesome composers such as Copland, Gershwin, Bernstein, Sondheim and Holst.”
The associate director of the AVB Community Band is Paul Oleksy. Narrator for the concert is Bruce Deadman.
The concert begins with the moving “Carmina Burana” written by Carl Orff, followed by “Variations on Scarborough Fair.”
Baretta then joins the band, singing “A Simple Song” from Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass.”
“Variations on A Shaker Medley” by Aaron Copeland is followed by “The Symphonic Gershwin,” featuring some of George Gershwin’s most famous compositions, including “An American in Paris,” “Cuban Overture” and “Rhapsody in Blue.”
Following intermission, the AVB Community Band begins the second half with “First Suite in E Flat” by Gustav Holst.
Baretta sings the St. Patrick’s Day favorite “Danny Boy.” The band follows with “Slavonic Dance #8” by Antonin Dvorak.
The haunting “Send in the Clowns,” written by Stephen Sondheim for the 1973 Broadway musical “A Little Night Music,” will also be performed by Baretta.
The concert concludes with “Irish Washerwoman from Dublin Dances” by Jan Van der Roost.
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The theme of this 43rd eight-concert season of the AVB Community Band is “A Season of Love.”
Please mark your calendar for the final two concerts of the 2024-2025 season, both at the Ashwaubenon PAC. Doors open at 6 p.m. Concerts begin at 7 p.m.
“A World United By Love” will be performed on Monday, April 14.
The season concludes with “Love’s Grand Finale” on Monday, May 12.
For more information, see avbcommunityband.org or our Facebook page.
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2940438-0
