PIQUA — The Piqua Civic Band pays tribute to the music of the sea, ocean and all the life therein at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 16 at Hance Pavilion in Fountain Park. The band’s special guest for the evening will be saxophonist Bill Burns. Selections will include “A Sea Medley,” The Beach Boys Greatest Hits, music from “Titanic,” “Anchors Aweigh,” and more.
Burns is an active jazz educator and performer across southwest Ohio and has been referred to as “the biggest, baddest, baritone sax player to play her in a long time.” He is the founder and leader of the Bright Moments Jazz Quintet and the Unity Saxophone Quartet. He is a member of the Dayton Jazz Orchestra, The Psychoacoustic Orchestra, The Tom Daughtery Orchestra, and various regional bands.
Burns’ performance experience includes work Norwegian and Holland America cruise lines, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Northern Kentucky Symphony, and the Blue Wisp Big Band. He has had the honor of backing up such legends as Phil Woods, John Pizzarelli, Arturo Sandoval, Diana Schuur, John Fedchock, Billy Hart, Denis DaBlazio, Bobby Watson, Frankie Vallie, The Temptations, The O’Jays, and the Funk brothers, among others.
As an educator, Bill has been on faculty with the Miami Valley Jazz Camp since 1996. In 2005, he was nominated for the Harry T. Wilkes outstanding educator award while teaching in Hamilton City Schools. He currently teaches General Music and Jazz Ensemble in Centerville City Schools and serves as adjunct professor at Sinclair Community College. Bill is past president of the Jazz Education Connection of Ohio and has presented jazz clinics at both the Ohio Music Education Association Convention and the National Jazz Education Network convention in New Orleans. Recordings Bill can be found on include Serenade in Blue with the CCM Big Band, Swing, Dance, Remember with the Dayton Jazz Orchestra, Do What You Gotta Do with the Bill Burns Quartet. His most recent recording, Jazz Advice, is available on CDbaby.com with the Bright Moments Quintet. Bill holds a B.A. in Music Education from the University of Dayton and a Masters in Saxophone Performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
All season long, the band will be seated, socially distanced on stage and audience members are asked to space themselves as well, only sitting together with same-household members. There is plenty of seating in the pavilion. All are encouraged to wear masks. Hance Pavilion is an outdoor theatre with plenty of open-air ventilation. Audience members may also wish to bring a lawn chair and enjoy the performance from outside the pavilion.
Admission to the concert is free and all are invited to attend. For more information, visit the Piqua Civic Band’s website at http://piquacivicband.weebly.com or like “The Piqua Civic Band” on Facebook.
