Community Band keeps decades of tradition
The Valley Stream Community Band and Community Orchestra capped off their final performances at the village’s annual summer concert series last month. The band and the orchestra are composed of musicians of all ages from high school students to near centenarians. Teachers from the Valley Stream Central High School Summer Music program also enlisted students to take part in the community orchestra and band as they rubbed shoulders with a number of amateur, professional or semi-professional musicians.
While most members come from Valley Stream and its surrounding communities – with some residents even having played for decades – others travel from as far away as Stony Brook to perform.
Band conductors this season included two Central High School District alumni and long-time members Alex Marks and current Director of Art and Music for the West Islip Schools Eric Albinder. Also serving as conductors were West Hempstead School District music teachers Dan DiPasquale and Benjamin Coleman, and Valley Stream CHSD Director of Fine and Performing Arts, Dr. Adam Erdos.
This year’s final band concert featured a rendition of “Tubby the Tuba” with narration by Valley Stream District 30 music teacher Sara Fernandez.
The concert series, cosponsored by the Valley Stream Central High School District Board of Education and the village board of trustees dates back to the early to mid-1950s with the founding of the Valley Stream Community Band by former Central High School Music Director John Smith. The Community Band has played every Tuesday evening in July since then.
Prior to the construction of the Band Shell, the Community Band played its inaugural years on the terraced front steps of Valley Stream Central High School. The Community Orchestra, a more recent addition to the series, began performing on Thursday evenings in 1966. Both groups rehearse for two hours the night prior to each performance. With this year’s performances at an end, be sure to keep an eye out for next summer’s concert season.
