Musicians To Present Salute to Vets

ONEONTA—The Oneonta Community Concert Band will present its annual Salute to Veterans performance at 3 p.m. on Sunday, November 12. The concert will be in the Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center on Market Street. Andrew D. Pease, an associate professor of music at Hartwick College, will conduct a program of patriotic tunes and melodies that evoke emotions connected to battles and military service, organizers said.

Veterans Day, a national holiday observed November 11, honors veterans for their patriotism and service. In 1918, fighting between the Allied Nations and Germany ended at 11 a.m. on November 11 and the Treaty of Versailles was signed the following June, officially ending World War I.

The local admission-free concert is designed to honor veterans of all years and branches, and the event is open to the public. The program includes the “Armed Forces Salute,” during which veterans are asked to stand and be recognized when their military branch theme is played.

Other pieces selected for the performance are “Minuteman March” by Robert H. Pearson, “Courage for Winds” by Adrienne Albert, John Philip Sousa’s “Semper Fidelis” and music from Gustav Holst’s “Second Suite.”

The lineup also includes “A Hymn for the Lost and the Living” by Eric Ewazen and “God Bless America” by Irving Berlin.

The band and its predecessors have performed in various configurations since the 1840s. Today’s group of professional and amateur musicians includes teachers, students, retirees and others employed in various fields from throughout the region. The mission of the Oneonta Community Concert Band Association is to educate and entertain audiences while preserving and promoting the wind-band literature through performance opportunities.

For more information, call OCCBA at (607) 376-7485.