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SUMMARY:Free U.S. Coast Guard Band Concert at Avery Point
DESCRIPTION:Free U.S. Coast Guard Band Concert at Avery Point brings the Coast Guard’s 55-member premier musical ensemble to the lawn of the historic Branford House on Labor Day\, Monday\, September 7\, for an outdoor waterfront performance overlooking Long Island Sound. \nThe concert begins at 5 p.m. and is scheduled to run until 7 p.m. No tickets are necessary. \nUnder the direction of Chief Warrant Officer Jeffrey A. Spenner\, the full Coast Guard Band will perform a program stretching from Puccini and Rossini to John Williams and Wicked\, along with marches and patriotic music. Three members of the band step forward as featured soloists during the evening: alto saxophonist Joe D’Aleo\, baritone Samuel West and soprano Allison Landstedt. \nAnd there may be no more appropriate setting for the Coast Guard Band than Avery Point. \nLong before the property became part of UConn\, the Coast Guard itself occupied this waterfront peninsula. \nWhat’s on the Program?\nThis isn’t simply two hours of patriotic standards. \nThe September 7 program is designed to show off the range of a full professional concert band\, with opera\, Broadway\, film music\, marches and solo showcases all sharing the program. \nSenior Chief Musician Joe D’Aleo will be featured on alto saxophone in a Tosca Fantasy based on music from Giacomo Puccini’s opera. \nPuccini premiered Tosca in Rome in 1900. Its sweeping melodies and dramatic orchestral writing have kept it among the world’s best-known operas for more than a century. Here\, some of that music moves from the opera house to solo saxophone and concert band. \nMusician First Class Samuel West takes a different trip to Italy with Gioachino Rossini’s “La Danza.” \nWritten in 1835\, the rapid-fire song is based on the tarantella\, the famously energetic southern Italian dance. It demands considerable agility from its singer\, making it as much a vocal showcase as a piece of lighthearted entertainment. \nThen the program jumps forward roughly 170 years. \n“Defying Gravity” Comes to Avery Point\nSoprano Musician First Class Allison Landstedt will perform “Defying Gravity\,” Stephen Schwartz’s showstopper from Wicked. \nThe song closes the first act of the musical as Elphaba makes the decision that changes the direction of her story. Since Wicked opened on Broadway in 2003\, “Defying Gravity” has become one of the most recognizable theater songs of the 21st century. \nThe Coast Guard Band arrangement gives Landstedt the vocal spotlight with the power of a full military concert band behind her. \nIt’s a long way from Puccini. \nThat’s the point. \nJohn Williams Goes to War\, Musically\nThe evening also includes John Williams’ “March from 1941.” \nSteven Spielberg’s 1979 comedy 1941 may not rank among his most celebrated movies\, but Williams’ music produced a concert march that long outlived the film’s initial reception. \nWilliams approached the score with the oversized musical language appropriate for Spielberg’s chaotic World War II comedy. The resulting march has become a concert-band favorite\, filled with the kind of brass\, percussion and instantly recognizable orchestral energy associated with the composer of Star Wars\, Jaws\, Indiana Jones and E.T. \nOn a waterfront that once served as an actual World War II Coast Guard training center\, there’s also an interesting historical connection between the music and the setting. \nYou Probably Know “Thunder and Blazes” Even If You Don’t Know Its Name\nAnother piece on the program may produce an immediate flash of recognition. \nJulius Fučík’s “Thunder and Blazes” is better known in the United States by another title: “Entrance of the Gladiators.” \nFučík\, a Czech composer and military bandmaster\, wrote the march in 1897. Although originally conceived with Roman gladiators in mind\, the piece eventually became inseparable in American popular culture from the circus. \nIts racing chromatic melody became musical shorthand for clowns\, big tops and circus entrances. \nHear the first few notes and there’s a good chance you’ll know it. \nThe Coast Guard Band’s performance brings the piece back to its natural habitat: a large\, technically accomplished wind band. \nThis Is a Military Band Made Up of Professional Musicians\nThe United States Coast Guard Band isn’t a student ensemble from the nearby Coast Guard Academy. \nIt’s the Coast Guard’s professional premier musical organization. \nBased at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London\, the 55-member ensemble performs concerts\, official ceremonies\, educational programs and national tours while serving as the musical representative of the service. \nIts musicians are active-duty members of the Coast Guard\, but they’re also professional performers selected for one of the most specialized jobs in the military. \nThat combination gives the band two roles. \nIt performs ceremonial music when the Coast Guard needs a musical presence for official functions. \nBut on the concert stage\, it operates as a professional wind ensemble capable of tackling orchestral transcriptions\, contemporary concert music\, jazz\, Broadway\, opera\, film scores and solo repertoire. \nThe Avery Point performance falls squarely on that concert side of its mission. \nJeffrey Spenner Takes the Podium\nChief Warrant Officer Jeffrey A. Spenner leads the September 7 concert. \nSpenner joined the Coast Guard Band in 2019 as assistant director and became the first conductor in the band’s history hired from outside the organization. \nHe brought military-band experience with him. \nBefore joining the Coast Guard\, Spenner served with the 399th Army Band at Fort Leonard Wood\, Missouri\, performing as both a conductor and trumpeter. \nHis work extends well beyond military music. Spenner has conducted orchestras and ensembles in the United States and abroad and currently serves as Orchestra Artistic Director with the Manchester Symphony Orchestra and Chorale. \nAt the Coast Guard Band\, his responsibilities include concerts\, ceremonies\, recordings and touring\, along with oversight of education and outreach programs. \nFor the Avery Point concert\, he’ll have the full band rather than one of its smaller jazz or chamber ensembles. \nWhy Avery Point Is Such an Appropriate Place for This Concert\nThe waterfront backdrop is beautiful. \nThe history makes it better. \nToday’s UConn Avery Point campus began as the private estate of Morton Plant\, a railroad\, steamship and hotel magnate. \nPlant built the Branford House at the beginning of the 20th century. UConn records place its construction in 1903–04\, with the mansion reportedly valued at about $3 million when completed. \nThe sprawling estate included elaborate gardens and land that is now Shennecossett Golf Course. \nAfter the Plant era\, the property eventually passed to the State of Connecticut. \nThen World War II changed its purpose completely. \nBefore UConn\, This Was a Coast Guard Base\nIn 1942\, the property was leased to the United States Coast Guard. \nThe former millionaire’s estate became a wartime training center. \nThe Coast Guard constructed additional buildings and used Avery Point to train personnel during World War II. According to UConn’s history of the campus\, the operation included a school devoted to the use of dynamite on nearby Pine Island. \nThe Coast Guard also built the Avery Point Lighthouse during its time on the property. \nThe lighthouse was completed during the war and remained in operation until June 25\, 1967. \nThat same year marked another major transition for Avery Point. \nThe former Coast Guard property became the southeastern campus of the University of Connecticut. \nSo when the Coast Guard Band performs outside Branford House on September 7\, it’s doing so on ground that was once part of the service itself. \nA Concert at the Edge of Long Island Sound\nAvery Point is unusual even among Connecticut’s waterfront concert settings. \nThe campus occupies a peninsula at the mouth of the Thames River\, where the river opens into Long Island Sound. \nBranford House sits near the shoreline\, its stone exterior and broad lawn facing the water. \nThe Avery Point Lighthouse stands farther along the waterfront\, and the campus shoreline offers views across the Sound and toward the approaches to New London Harbor. \nInstead of walking into a concert hall\, the audience gets the Coast Guard Band outdoors with the water behind it. \nFor a band representing a maritime service\, the location does a fair amount of the staging on its own. \nA Labor Day Finale to the Coast Guard Band’s Summer\nThe September 7 performance is part of the Coast Guard Band’s summer concert series. \nThroughout the warmer months\, the ensemble travels to communities around New England for free outdoor performances\, bringing full concert-band programs outside its regular home at the Coast Guard Academy. \nThe Avery Point concert arrives on Labor Day and effectively gives southeastern Connecticut one more major outdoor concert before summer gives way to fall. \nThere are no tickets to buy. \nNo theater seats. \nAnd no need to enter the Coast Guard Academy for this particular performance. The concert takes place at UConn Avery Point in Groton\, not on the Academy’s secured New London campus. \nJust a professional 55-member military band\, a century-old mansion\, two hours of music and Long Island Sound behind the stage. \nEvent Details\nEvent: U.S. Coast Guard Band Summer Concert Series – Avery Point\nDate: Monday\, September 7\, 2026\nTime: 5–7 p.m.\nLocation: Branford House at UConn Avery Point\nAddress: 1084 Shennecossett Road\, Groton\, CT 06340\nAdmission: Free\nTickets: No tickets necessary\nEnsemble: Full U.S. Coast Guard Band\nConductor: CWO Jeffrey A. Spenner\nSetting: Outdoor waterfront concert \nFeatured Soloists and Music\nMUCS Joe D’Aleo\, alto saxophone: Puccini’s Tosca Fantasy\nMU1 Samuel West\, baritone: Rossini’s “La Danza”\nMU1 Allison Landstedt\, soprano: Stephen Schwartz’s “Defying Gravity” from Wicked \nThe program also includes John Williams’ “March from 1941\,” Julius Fučík’s “Thunder and Blazes\,” patriotic favorites and additional concert-band selections. \nGood to Know\nThe concert is outdoors on the grounds of Branford House at UConn Avery Point. \nNo tickets are required for admission. \nThis event is at UConn Avery Point in Groton\, not inside the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London. The Coast Guard’s event listing does not state that the Academy’s REAL ID entry requirement applies to this concert. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/free-u-s-coast-guard-band-concert-at-avery-point/
LOCATION:Branford House at UConn Avery Point\, 1084 Shennecossett Road\, Groton\, 06340\, United States
CATEGORIES:Branford House at UConn Avery Point
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