Music, Gettysburg! is pleased to present the Gettysburg Big Band in a summertime outdoor concert beginning at 4pm Sunday, August 17, 2008 in the Schmucker Grove, Springs Avenue between N. Hay Street and Seminary Ridge on the campus of Gettysburg Seminary.

Directed by Dan Bevilacqua, the Big Band makes its first appearance for Music, Gettysburg! audiences, which has delighted audiences in the region since 1990. The band will play the great works of Hoagy Carmichael, Richard Rogers, Glenn Miller and Henry Mancini and more of the greats of the 30’s, 40’s, swing music music and more.

Music, Gettysburg! brings the Big Band as its second outdoor summer concert on the Hill-Unger Performance Platform, welcoming guests to the Seminary lawn in a picnic style concert. The concert is free and open to the public, and listeners are welcome to bring blankets or chairs and picnic on the lawn of the Schmucker Grove.

If the weather turns inclement, the concert will take place in the Seminary Chapel. Parking is available in the Valentine Parking lot and Springs Avenue. Parking for handicapped attendees will be available at the East entrance of Valentine Hall (off Springs Avenue).

Beginning in 1990 with the opening of the Nation Apple Museum, the band has steadily increased its repertoire to include most of the popular and original arrangements of the 30s and 40s with a great selection of fox trots, waltzes, Latin music, swing numbers, and more. Members of the band include active and retired doctors, teachers, service musicians, a farmer, an accountant, a college professor and a financial advisor.

In addition to Greg Ruth, who is the band manager and has years of professional trumpet experience with the Les Elgart Band and the 30th Army Band in Germany, the Gettysburg Big Band includes trumpeters Hugh Ferguson, Joe Schnetzka and Terry Scholle. Bob Grubbs, Keith Davis, Joel Sears and Paul Tice anchor the trombone section. Playing saxophone are Dan Bevilacqua, Steve Carbaugh, Barry Stauffer, Barbara Senier and Bob Zeliner. And rhythm and vocalists include in addition to Bevilacqua, Dan White on drums, Steve Franek on bass, Jess Betlyon on keyboard.

Music, Gettysburg! is one of the finest performing arts series in Central Pennsylvania, producing between 15 and 20 concerts annually, which are free and open to the public.

Come enjoy this family friendly Sunday afternoon concert. In case of a passing shower, the performers and audience will move into historic Schmucker House adjacent to the outdoor venue. If the day is rainy throughout, the concert will be held in the Seminary Chapel, which is located on Seminary Ridge, three buildings away. For more information about this and other concerts remaining in the Music, Gettysburg! schedule, please call 717-334-6286 ext 2197 or visit the web site at www.musicgettysburg.org .