Castlebar Concert Band host gala concert on October 25
CASTLEBAR Concert Band, planning for its 2019 trip to New York, host a gala concert in the main hall of the Mayo GMIT campus on Thursday, October 25.
Under musical director Mary Curran, there will be afternoon and evening performances by the 30-strong band.
The matinee show is especially for local transition year students at 2 p.m. while the main presentation gets underway from 8 p.m.
The event provides an opportunity for the band to unveil a range of musical arrangements on which the band has been working with Ms. Curran, who has a long association with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
They include the finest work by two of the world's greatest contemporary composers, Henry Mancini and John Williams, the former of which is best remembered for his Pink Panther score while the latter has been responsible for some of the most popular film scores in cinematic history, including Star Wars.
These arrangements epitomise the new style which Ms. Curran has brought to the band since her appointment two years ago.
Other pieces which she has also introduced include the Jackson 5 hit, ‘ABC’, which was number one on the US soul charts for four weeks in 1970, and the 1982 classic by Survivor, ‘Eye of the Tiger’, which featured in the Rocky III movie, and was covered so successfully by Tina Turner.
The band will also be featuring some of their old favourites, most notably Neil Diamond's 'Sweet Caroline', 'Largo, The New World Symphony', the Slaidburn quick march by William Rimmer, and probably the favourite tune of the band members themselves, 'The Bluebell March'.
The main organiser of the concert, Tommy O'Malley, has also lined up a number of acts to add variety to the show.
They include popular local vocalists the Garvey Brothers and uilleann piper Diarmuid Moynihan.
Tommy has promised that a number of surprises are in store for those in attendance where there is a prospect of Mary Curran displaying her considerable skills on the French horn.
He has thanked all of the local businesses and others for supporting the concert through patronships.
"We have learned over the past number of weeks that the level of goodwill and generosity to the Castlebar Concert Band is remarkable. For that, we are so grateful," he said.
Tickets (€15) will be on sale at the door from 7.30 p.m. on the night.