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Lehighton Band performing final summer concert Aug. 10

The Lehighton Band will present its third and final summer concert in the Lehighton Park Amphitheatre at 8 p.m. Aug. 10.

The theme of the concert is “Let Us Entertain You,” and the majority of the songs in the concert are from the various forms of American entertainment including Broadway shows, pop concerts, television shows, sporting events and movies.

The concert opens, as always, with the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner,” and will be followed with the opening march, “Sempre Fidelis,” by John Phillip Sousa.

The modern overture “Of Time and Change” is next. Written by James Swearingen, it was commissioned by the Ohio State chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.

From there, “Lights! Camera! Action!” is the band’s next number and contains movie music including “Signature, “California,” “Here I Come,” “Hooray for Hollywood,” “You Oughta Be In Pictures,” “As Time Goes By,” “Patton March,” “Chariots of Fire,” “The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” “The Way We Were,” “Gone with the Wind (Tara’s Theme) Theme” from “Blazing Saddles,” “Star Wars” (main title) and “Superman March.”

The band heads next to Broadway and selections from “Dear Evan Hansen.”

Television is the next destination for the band from the present to the popular television show theme “Hogan’s Heroes March.” The next stop is a Pop Concert featuring Michael Jackson’s Bad tour which features the songs “Bad,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Dirty Diana” and “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.”

The soloist for the evening is the band’s principal flutists, Laura Reichard, however, her solo will be a vocal feature rather than a flute solo. She will be singing the hauntingly beautiful “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables. A return to the movies is next with a song recorded by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, “Endless Love,” from the movie of the same name.

The band makes a pit stop to a jazz club from the 1940s, playing Josef Zawinul’s popular “Birdland.” The next number is entitled “Broadmoor Fantasie,” which is another name for a day lily. Not featured in any movie in particular, it does represent the type of music heard as the background for many movies and television shows.

One of the most famous composers of movie, television and sporting music is John Williams. The band will present John Williams: Evening at the Pops which features “We’re Lookin’ Good” (special Olympics march), The Cowboys from the 1972 movie, “The Dance of the Witches from the Witches of Eastwick,” and “Olympic Fanfare and Theme,” which debuted at the 1984 Olympics.

The song “Night and Day” is so synonymous with Cole Porter, a movie written about his life was named after his song Night and Day.

The band will wrap up the entertainment portion of the concert with the theme song from a 1981 television show entitled “The Greatest American Hero.” The closing march will be “The Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Phillip Sousa.

In the event of rain, the concert will be held at First Presbyterian Church, Third and Mahoning streets in Lehighton. Additionally, the First Presbyterian Church will be present with bottled water for those in attendance.

The concert is free to the public, but a free will offering will be received. The band is always looking for more members. Anyone in ninth grade and older who plays a band instrument is invited to join the band.

For more information, visit The Lehighton Band on Facebook.

The Lehighton Band is under the direction of Bradly R. Cressley.