Army band adds second performance

For the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers' Chorus, the third time is a charm -- and a benefit to local students.

The band, which played in the Valley in 2001, is scheduled to make its second performance here next Tuesday at the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex. A third show, organized for local music students and programs, has been added to the lineup.

"It is geared specifically for our local band students, whether they be homeschool students or part of a band at school," said organizer Bert Hall. "Several schools are bringing their entire music department."

The regularly-scheduled concert starts at 7 p.m. on May 11, and the new concert is scheduled from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the same day, at the same location. The abbreviated afternoon program will include several of the pieces in the regular evening show, but more importantly, it gives local students a chance to meet the musicians in the band and choir, and to play with them.

Trombonist Jessica Lear and flutist Breanna Akens from Colony High School, bass player Ryan Hall and trumpeter Thomas Hoffman of Wasilla High School and clarinetist Summer Rozzi and flutist Katie Dillbeck of Palmer High School have all been invited by organizers to play a number as part of the band.

According to organizers, a representative of the Army Band noted that Valley students who attended the 2001 concert were such a great audience that the band was eager to return.

Hall said the afternoon concert is also being offered to seniors citizens and residents of the Palmer Pioneer Home, as well as the various assisted living and nursing homes and others who might not be able to attend the evening concert. Accommodations for wheelchair-bound attendees will be provided at both concerts. Area senior centers are providing transportation.

"For some people a two-hour show in the evening is just too hard," Hall said.

Both concerts are part of the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce's annual Salute to the Military. Free tickets to the evening concert -- no tickets are required for the afternoon performance -- are available at the Frontiersman, KMBQ, Wasilla City Hall, the Mat-Su Borough and the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce.

The evening performance starts at 7 p.m. and ticketholders are being encouraged to be seated by 6:45 p.m., to allow for the seating of nonticketholders.

Hall said he is expecting between 500 and 600 for the afternoon performance and 2,500 people for the evening performance.