USMA Concert Band at the Lycian

Sugar Loaf — The United States Military Academy Concert Band at West Point will be performing a free public concert at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10, at the Lycian Centre for the Performing Arts on King’s Highway in Sugar Loaf. The concert band is a direct descendant of the small Band of Musick that had assembled at West Point in 1817. The modest twenty-piece military band of that era has evolved into the 43-member symphonic band of today. The concert band has a history marked with several world-class performances and close associations with renowned composers. Percy Grainger, one of the first composers to fully utilize instrumentation of the wind ensemble, often called upon the band to proofread his new compositions. The band also enjoyed a relationship with American composer and conductor Morton Gould. His 1952 “Symphony for Band,” commissioned for the sesquicentennial of the United States Military Academy, is still performed by concert bands worldwide. The performance is free, however reservations are required. For tickets, call the box office at 469-2287 between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.