July 28, 2022
Hello, Friends!
We trust that you and your family are enjoying a fun and festive summer so far, and if you haven’t been able to catch one of our recent concerts, I am happy to announce our next round of shows--all featuring our fun and entertaining "Sunrise Serenade" program (which The Queens Gazette hailed as “…an awe-inspiring musical tribute to the Great American Songbook")!
As we head into the home stretch of our summer 2022 season (and turn the calendar page to August), we actually have one more show in July: this Sunday, July 31 (8pm) at the Chapin Rainbow Stage in Huntington’s Heckscher Park for the 57th Annual Huntington Summer Arts Festival. As you can see from the artful photo above (taken at our 2016 HSAF concert), THERE IS ROOM FOR DANCING in front of the stage, so please dust off your dancing shoes and join us! Click here for more information.
That brings us into the ‘Suffolk County leg’ of our 2022 tour, with the next show on Tuesday, August 2 (7pm) for our return to the Rocky Point Summer Concert Series at the St. Anthony of Padua R.C. Church on Rt 25A. We are very excited to return for our 10th annual appearance on this wonderful series, presented by Legislator Sarah Anker and the North Shore Youth Council. You can see more details here.
Then we have our annual ‘homecoming’ concert for the Westhampton Beach Village Green Concert Series on Thursday, August 4 (7:30pm), where we will celebrate our 33rd consecutive year performing for their Big Band night! We are enormously proud that our band has been THE ONE AND ONLY group featured through all those years (starting with our original identity as The Stardusters Big Band, led by founding director, Bob Rotunda, which debuted in 1972--which means that our ensemble is also celebrating our 50th Anniversary this year!). We can’t wait to see all of our friends and fans in WHB and celebrate our music with them! Also, while we are hopeful for a typically gorgeous night there, I also must mention that we do have a rain date for the first time this year (which is Sunday, Aug. 7 at 5:30pm).
And for the final date of our summer 2022 tour, we head back to home base in Nassau County on Wed., August 10 (8pm) for the Long Beach Summer Concert Series. We will be at the Neptune Blvd Stage this year, and as always, the showmobile will be set up right on the beach, so you can either set yourself up in the “orchestra seats” on the sand in front of the stage or you can claim a spot in the “mezzanine” section on the boardwalk (which still looks great after the recent renovation!). These concerts are always well-attended, so please come early, especially if you’re driving, since parking can be a challenge. Click here for more details.
As mentioned above, all of these shows showcase our SUNRISE SERENADE program, which features a “solar-powered” line-up of Big Band classics, plus, we’ll also feature our traditional salute to our Veterans and the Troops, along with 100th birthday tributes to bandleaders Neal Hefti and Ray Anthony, and superstar vocalists Doris Day and Judy Garland!
We’ll have more news in our next newsletter about our upcoming shows after that, but in the meantime, you can always check out the schedule page on our website.
We look forward to seeing you soon at one of these performances, and let me add a reminder to please come say hello at intermission or afterwards (and be sure to check out our ‘merch table’ where you can acquire some Swingtime ‘swag’ to take home with you!). In the meantime, we wish you a cool, safe, and enjoyable summer!
Swingingly yours,
