Armory to host Springfield All Youth Music Festival June 11Date: 6/10/2016 SPRINGFIELD – Five hundred Springfield students will perform in the sixth annual Springfield All Youth Music Festival on June 11, a free event presented on the grounds of the Springfield Armory National Historic Site and Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) campus.
Eileen McCaffery, executive director of Community Music School of Springfield (CMSS), explained to Reminder Publications, the performance is “the culmination of a whole year’s worth of work” for the students.
The performance will include the partnership programs the Community Music School has with the Springfield Public Schools including the national award winning Sonido Musica Springfield Public School Partnership featuring Chestnut North, South and Kennedy Middle School.
Other schools and programs that are involved in making the performance happen include the Springfield Conservatory of the Arts; John J. Duggan Academy; STEM Academy; South End Middle School; Zanetti Montessori; Veritas Prep Charter School; Baystate Academy Charter School.
The festival, which will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., will also feature performances will also feature bucket drumming students from the Springfield Public Library “Rock the Stacks” program, Springfield Strings programs in elementary schools, and CMSS’ Prelude Preschool of the Arts. Also performing will be String Village, featuring first, second and third grade students of Community Music School’s string partnership with Zanetti Montessori School, St. Michael’s Academy, String City Orchestra, CitySounds Orchestra and the Charles Majid Greenlee Scholarship Jazz Ensemble.
Besides the music, there will be face painting, food vendors and other family friendly activities. There will be free parking on the STCC grounds and the event will be presented rain or shine.
McCaffery said this would be the third year the event is hosted by the Armory National Site and Executive Director James Woolsey called it “a great event, wonderful in itself, but also w away to promote the Armory.”
He added that some people in Springfield believe the Armory site has been “an isolated institution.” He emphasized, “We want to be part of the city.”
McCaffery said of the Armory museum and its staff, “We couldn’t do it without them.”
The concert is conducted outside on the Armory museum’s lawn and McCaffery said, “Seeing the city from this vantage point is a game changer.”
This year the students will be using the commandant’s house as their “green room,” where they can prepare for their performance, McCaffery said.
People attending the concert are encouraged to visit a new exhibit at the museum “A Century of Service,” which describes the 2016 centennial of the National Parks Service. The exhibit connects the Springfield Armory with other National Parks Service sites through the history of firearms. That exhibit will be on view until February 2017.
For more information on the concert, call CMSS at 732-8428 or go to www.communitymusicschool.com. For more information about the Springfield Armory National Historic Site call 734-8551 or got to www.nps.gov/spar.
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