Community Band presents outdoor concert at VGCC Gazebo


From within the Gazebo on VGCC’s Main Campus, the Vance-Granville Community Band performs with featured soloist Dave Arner of Henderson on trumpet, during the concert on May 13. (VGCC photo)

The Vance-Granville Community Band performed its fourth annual outdoor Mother’s Day concert on May 13 at the Gazebo on VGCC’s Main Campus. The band’s director, VGCC music instructor Michael Stephenson, said that when he first interviewed for his position, he saw the Gazebo and thought it was an ideal location from which a band could play. A sizable crowd, many seated on lawn chairs, enjoyed the “concert in the park” atmosphere and a program of music from a variety of eras, including a selection from a 19th-century symphony of Franz Schubert, a 1931 John Philip Sousa march called “A Century Of Progress,” the 1970s hit “Alla Barocco,” and many more.

One piece, “Debonair for Trumpet,” featured trumpeter Dave Arner of Henderson as the soloist.

Vocalist Raynah Adams of Henderson also contributed to the program, singing classic jazz standards like “Three Coins in the Fountain” as well as the patriotic “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.” Adams had an illustrious career as a member of the U.S. Air Force “Singing Sergeants,” in which he performed for Presidents Truman, Johnson, Ford and Reagan.

Local music lovers will have another chance to hear the Community Band this month. The band will present a Memorial Day-themed concert on Saturday, May 26 at approximately 7:30 p.m. at the Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre in Henderson (before the evening’s movies begin). The program will include patriotic numbers, marches, and movie themes.

Formed in 2008, the Vance-Granville Community Band is a combination of VGCC students and interested citizens, including some high school students. Band members hail from all four counties of the college service area (Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin) and beyond. For more information, call Michael Stephenson at (252) 738-3346.