Tulsa's Free Tuesday Tradition

Starlight Band presents free concerts in June and July this year as they have since 1947.  This popular Summer tradition continues June 22 at 8pm at the River West Festival Park with support from the Universal Combustion Corporation and Waters Charitable Foundation’s “Big Band Tribute Night” featuring the Starlight Big Band.

Starlight’s Big Band features brass, woodwinds and percussion playing jazz and big band favorites from the past and present. All members of the Starlight Big Band and the Starlight Concert Band are professional musicians from Tulsa and the surrounding areas.

“We love to get together and entertain the crowd,” said Rich Fisher, trombonist and the 2010 conductor of Starlight’s Big Band. “You can hear great music, enjoy the view of the river and the downtown skyline, and relax in the evening breeze.”

The concert will feature selections by well-known big band composers, such as Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Sammy Nestico, who arranged for the Count Basie Orchestra.  Special guests for the evening will be the members of Tulsa Community College’s TulsaFest band.  Area high school students participate in TulsaFest, a two-week summer program sponsored by the TCC Peforming Arts Institute. TulsaFest includes master classes, ensembles and special performances. The TCC TulsaFest band will provide the entertainment at the beginning of the concert. The band will be under the direction of Dr. Barry Epperley, who also conducts Signature Symphony.

Attendees will appreciate the sights and sounds of the evening, which the relaxed, outdoor setting of the River West Festival Park provides. Starlight’s concerts are ideal entertainment for the entire family. River West Festival Park is located at 2100 South Jackson. The venue has free parking and is accessible to those with disabilities. Concessions will be available. The public is invited to bring blankets, lawn chairs, picnic dinners and pet dogs on leashes.

Guarantor sponsors for the 2010 season are the Oklahoma Arts Council and the Treeman Family Foundation, in honor of Jeff Treeman. Other major sponsors include: Cedar Creek, Circle Cinema, Creative State, Liberty Press, Local 94: American Federation of Musicians, the Music Performance Trust Fund, Public Radio Tulsa: KWGS/KWTU, Saied Music Company and The Jimmie & Helen Saied Foundation, Tulsa River Parks Authority, Universal Combustion Corporation, Waters Charitable Foundation and The Charles & Marion Weber Foundation in memory of Dr. Charles E. and Marion L. Weber.

Other Starlight concerts are June 29, July 13, July 20 and July 27. For more information online, click here