Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge Community Band has Labor Day concert

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The photo taken by Bill Dodge shows the clarinet section of the Oak Ridge Community Band at the July 4 concert. (Submitted photo)

 

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Labor Day is often considered the unofficial end of summer, and what better way to celebrate the beginning of fall as well as the holiday weekend than to go to Alvin K. Bissell Park on Monday evening and enjoy great musical entertainment in a casual and fun atmosphere.

The evening will feature a concert by the Oak Ridge Community Band, directed by band conductor Shaun Salem. The concert is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Monday, September 6. It is a free family-friendly event. Organizers recommend you bring lawn chairs or blankets for outdoor seating. Ice cream will be available for sale.

The Community Band will play a variety of music genres including familiar patriotic marches, novelty pieces, classical, and the all-time crowd pleaser, which is so special for Tennessee Vol fans, “Rocky Top,” the press release said. Among the compositions on the September 6 program will be Robert Smith’s “American Flourish,” John Philip Sousa’s “The Thunderer,” the very fast-paced novelty piece Warren Barker’s “A Galop to End All Galops,” and James L. Hosay’s “Black Granite,” which was written to commemorate the men and women who gave their lives in the Vietnam War, the press release said. [Read more…]

Labor Day Concert: Dale Pendley retiring as conductor

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Dale Pendley and the Oak Ridge Community Band are pictured above in this submitted photo.

Dale Pendley and the Oak Ridge Community Band are pictured above in this submitted photo.

 

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As summer comes to a unofficial close on Labor Day, it is official that Dale Pendley’s many years of outstanding service as conductor of the Oak Ridge Community Band from 2001 to 2018 comes to a close as he heads into retirement. The Community Band is inviting all Oak Ridgers and area residents, particularly former Community Band members, former band students of Pendley during the years he worked as an educator in the Oak Ridge Schools, family, and friends to come on down to A.K. Bissell Park on Monday, September 3, at 7 p.m. to join with band members in giving Dale Pendley a warm send-off and many best wishes for his retirement.

Dale Pendley has been with the Oak Ridge Community Band since 1996, originally as a member of the trombone section, later becoming assistant conductor in 1998, and he was appointed the band conductor in 2001 after the retirement of former director Steve “Doc” Combs. Pendley is a graduate of Tyner High School in Chattanooga and received his bachelor and master’s degrees from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He taught in the Knoxville City Schools and started the band program in the Grainger County Schools. From 1980 to 2012, he taught band in Oak Ridge Schools at both Jefferson Middle School and Oak Ridge High School. In addition to teaching and conducting, Pendley has performed with the University of Tennessee Trombone Choir, the Babahatchie Community Band, the Oak Ridge and Knoxville Symphony Orchestras, and numerous jazz and dance bands. Dale and his wife Rita have three grown children and one grandchild. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Community Band plays free Labor Day concert

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The Oak Ridge Community Band will play a free Labor Day concert at A.K. Bissell Park.

The show will feature Louis Armstrong tunes, American river songs, several march pieces, a polka, and a unique “Looney Tunes” adaptation of some famous classical songs.

The show, which starts at 7 p.m., is the last summer concert for 2012, a press release said.

[Read more…]