Pictured-left to right- Batavia Concert Band members, Josh Pacino/Librarian/Historian, Jason Smith/General Manager, Joey Pero/1997-99, and John Bailey/Conductor at Tuesday evening’s creation session at GCC.
When Batavia Concert Band Manager Jason Smith approached Batavia native Joey Pero about playing with the band for their Centennial Celebration, Pero wanted to come up with something special. Pero played with the band from 1997-1999, before his climb to fame in the music business and appearance on Broadway.
“I took the two Batavia High School alma maters, I didn’t know there were two, I’ve heard of “Ever Batavia” at graduation but there is another one called “The Blue and White”, and I arranged a piece using both of those alma maters, kind of a mash up if you will with a trumpet solo.”
Historian Josh Pacino was able to locate the music for both songs and Pero worked his magic in about a week and a half to come up with “Ever Blue and White”.
“I made it a little bit more lyrical and added some different tempos, some different key changes, different time changes and also interwove the two pieces together and put some counter melodies on it and featured all the instruments in the band.”
Pero says he has gifted the creation to the Batavia Concert Band and the Batavia High School Band.
“It’s not my usual razzle dazzle you’ll see from me, it’s just a nice melody featuring the band and a soloist and its three minutes and twenty seconds. The magic really happens when the band plays it for the first time, and it comes to life.”
Watching the Concert Band and Conductor John Bailey work together with Pero on “Ever Blue and White” for the first time on stage at Tuesday evening’s rehearsal at Stuart Steiner Theatre at GCC was a magical moment. In about 30 minutes, the crowded stage full of musicians of all ages brought music to life.
Watch a snippet of the session below.
Catch the Public Premier of “Ever Blue and White” at Centennial Park on Wednesday July 17th at 7:00p.m./rain location is at GCC/Stuart Steiner Theatre.
Check the Batavia Concert Band Facebook link below for updates.
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