For the 37th consecutive year, the Richmond Concert Band will be performing July 4th on Dogwood Dell stage. Beginning at 7:30pm, the band will be performing a memorable program - one worthy of such a patriotic occasion. There are a few surprises planned, but you can count on hearing your favorite patriotic songs and the 1812 Overture - complete with cannon fire, carillon bells, and fireworks. The audience is always ready to wave the flag, sing patriotic songs, and celebrate all the good things that are America.
City Carilloneur Larry
Robinson
performs on the carillon bells for 30 minutes before the band's concert
begins. Mr. Robinson will soon be celebrating his 50th
anniversary of playing on the WW1 memorial's 53-bell carillon in Byrd
Park!
Having confirmed with
several notable
sources, we understand that the Richmond Concert Band may very well be
the
only band (or orchestra) in our United States that performs the 1812 Overture complete
with live and on-site howitzers (from the Va National Guard's Battery
A,
1-111th FIRES Battalion), carillon bells (by Larry Robinson), and the
addition of fireworks as the Boston Pops instituted some years
ago. All the other performances (DC, Boston, etc.) use some
remote, pre-recorded sound effects of bells and cannons. Many
bands have one or two of the additions live/on-site, but only the
Richmond Concert Band has all three!