PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Summer Band will kick off its 31st year of free summer concerts at Chetzemoka Park at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets to the southeast lawn area of the park at 1000 Jefferson St., Port Townsend, for the concert, which lasts about one hour.
Led by conductor Marge Rosen, the all-volunteer musicians will offer a variety of dance-themed music. The featured guest is Port Townsend resident Al Thompson, joining the band on solo clarinet for an arrangement of Benny Goodman swing tunes.
At the concert, the band will present the E.J. Gaede Memorial Scholarship to band member Maria Powell.
Powell, who graduated this year from Chimacum High School, has played alto saxophone with the band for two seasons and will be featured in a solo on Czardas, a folkloric piece by composer Vittorio Monti.
The scholarship honors the band’s founder, E.J. Gaede, who served as conductor from 1993 until 2001.
The band, which includes members who range in age from teens to 90, welcomes new members of all levels of experience. The group rehearses weekly from late May to November.
In addition to the outdoor summer concerts, the band performs every year at the American Legion Hall in Port Townsend on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
A highlight of this summer’s series is a collaboration with the Port Townsend Community Chorus. The chorus will be joining the band for a Fourth of July concert at 6 p.m. at Pope Marine Park in Port Townsend.
Also scheduled:
• July 30 — Chetzemoka Park Lawn, 1 p.m.
• Aug. 12 — Jefferson County Fair, 2 p.m.
• Aug. 27 — Pope Marine Park, 1 p.m.
For more information on the band and the summer concert dates, see www.ptsummerband.org.
