Community Band presents outdoor concert on VGCC campus

The Vance-Granville Community Band performed its third annual outdoor Mother’s Day concert on May 8 at the Gazebo on VGCC’s main campus.

 

A sizable crowd, many seated on blankets and lawn chairs, enjoyed the “music in the park” atmosphere and a varied program that included marches, a medley of Beatles songs, and selections from the Broadway classic “Phantom of the Opera.” VGCC music instructor Michael Stephenson directed the band.

 

A highlight of the concert was a jazz set by an ensemble that included Stephenson on saxophone and three members of the Community Band, VGCC student Joseph Colquitt of Creedmoor on guitar, Southern Vance High School student Andre Crudup on drums, and Ross LeCompte of Clarksville, Virginia on trumpet/flugelhorn. As Stephenson noted, LeCompte is something of a celebrity, a retired professional musician whose career included a stint as assistant musical director for television’s “The Merv Griffin Show.” LeCompte has also served as president of the Southside Virginia Jazz Society.

 

Local music lovers will have another chance to hear the Community Band this month. The band will present its first Memorial Day weekend concert on Saturday, May 28 at 7:15 p.m. at the Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre in Henderson. The program will include patriotic numbers, marches, and movie themes.

 

Formed in 2008, the community band is a combination of students and interested citizens from the four counties of the VGCC service area (Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin) and beyond. For more information, call Michael Stephenson at (252) 738-3346.

 

Above: From left, an ensemble of Southern Vance High School student Andre Crudup, Ross LeCompte of Clarksville, Virginia, VGCC music instructor Michael Stephenson and VGCC student Joseph Colquitt of Creedmoor played several jazz numbers during the Vance-Granville Community Band concert on May 8. (VGCC photo)