A youth band concert will take place on Sunday April 7th at 5pm at Chiesa di San Francesco at 5pm featuring The provincial Youth Band Anbima from Lucca and the Westfield High School band from New Jersey. FREE ENTRY
The American band will be in Italy from 1 to 9 April, starting from Rome they will pass through Spoleto, Assisi, Florence, Lucca and Siena. The key event will be the Lucca concert in which in the first half the Lucca youth group directed by Maestro Cristian Pepe will perform with a classical and Puccinian repertoire (given the occasion of the centenary of the master's death) while in the second half it will be possible listen to the guys from overseas with a repertoire of original American songs and a couple of homages to the traditional Italian repertoire.
Just a couple of notes on the two formations:
The provincial youth band is a wind and percussion orchestra made up of 60 young people aged between 12 and 25 from musical bands and institutes in the Province of Lucca. Born within the ANBIMA of Lucca in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, it saw its debut concert in 2022 at the “L. Boccherini”, headquarters where it currently carries out its activities.
In 2023 the band performed in the Church of San Francesco on the occasion of the Lucca Classica Music Festival and during the summer it organized a real tour for the Province of Lucca playing at the Teatro Alfieri in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, the parish church of Villa Basilica, the Istituto Pellegrini Carmignani of Montecarlo until closing the 69th Puccini Festival at the Gran Teatro all'Aperto in Torre del Lago performing in concert together with the Piedmont Youth Music Band.
In addition to organizing selection masterclasses for new instrumentalists, rehearsals, concerts and instrumental technique training camps with the ANBIMA musical bands of the Province of Lucca, it collaborates with the Boccherini Conservatory and the Passaglia High School on transversal projects for youth leadership.
Westfield High School operates a band program involving over 200 students in 10 bands. Three concert bands form the core of the band program with additional performances by two jazz bands, two percussion ensembles and the Marching Blue Devils. The Westfield Bands have toured in Austria, the Czech Republic and Italy.
The Westfield Wind Ensemble receives top rating at the state concert band festival each year. Under the direction of Chris Vitale, they performed at the New Jersey Music Educators Conference and the Music For All National Festival in Indianapolis. A graduate of the University of Delaware School of Music, Vitale has led the Westfield Band Program for the past 14 years. He is assisted by Gabriel Batiz, an experienced director, who is enjoying his first year of teaching at the Westfield Band Program. More information on www.westfieldhsbands.org where in addition to their activities it is possible to follow the Italian tour.
Entrance is free thanks to the kind contribution of the Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Foundation.
