A musical salute to first responders planned for April 30
By Jason Gabak
Editor
From the police and fire department to the members of the WAVES service, there are many first responders who protect and serve the community.
That was the idea that inspired Jack Gardner, director of the Voices of Faith Ecumenical Choir and Fr. John Manno, pastor of Holy Family Church to consider a way to honor these men and women.
On April 30 at 7 p.m. Holy Family Church will host a concert dedicated to the first responders and their families in the town of Camillus.
“We wanted to put something together to honor these people how protect us and our homes in the town and so forth,” Gardened said. “Fr. John and I got together and talked about some ideas about how we could do this.”
Gardened said the choir, who is comprised of about 30 to 35 members, hosts a number of concerts each year.
To make this possible, Gardened said he works to plan out pieces for performances well in advance, selecting pieces of music he thinks will be a good fit for the theme of any given performance.
After Gardner and Manno put their thoughts together on the tribute performance, Gardened began working with the members of the choir on the music.
Between planning and rehearsals, Gardened said this concert came together over the course of the past two or three months.
“We do concerts all year,” Gardner said. “We have performances January through May and then we take the summer off and we start again in the fall. I pick out pieces of music; pieces I think will work well for our concerts. We knew we wanted to do something special as we were planning this concert.”
Gardner said the choir will perform a variety of pieces and will be joined by several special guests.
The choir will be accompanied by Joyce Bunce and Sally Bailey and special guest performers will include the Seneca String Quartet, Al Thompson on guitar and vocals and the West Genesee Brass and the duet of Doreen Bosch and Bryan Hills and soprano Mikell DiGiorgio.
“We wanted to do something special, to really honor the people who serve and protect in our community,” Gardner said.
In addition to the musical performance, Town Supervisor Mary Ann Coogan will accept a plaque in thanks for the service of these first responders for display in town hall.
A social gathering hosted by the Holy Family Hospitality Committee will follow the performance.
“We think people will truly enjoy the music,” Gardner said. “We think it will be a very nice time. There are a lot of good people who work to protect out community and this is will be a nice way to say thank you.”
If you go
A tribute to first responders
7 p.m. April 30 at Holy Family Church, 124 Chapel Drive
All are welcome; a free will offering will be accepted
