How will you and your family spend the extra hours of daylight this summer? The Stonewall Brigade Bandstand in Staunton’s Gypsy Hill Park will be an evening hot spot. There will be two concert series, free to the public, and held each week during the summer. The music will play at the bandstand rain or shine. Permanent bench seating is available in front of the bandstand, but it is encouraged that concert-goers bring lawn chairs or blankets, as bench seats are limited. This year the newly dedicated “Bob Moody” concession stand will sell refreshments during the summer concert series.
Stonewall Brigade Summer Concert Series
Monday evenings at 8:00 pm The Stonewall Brigade Band will play at the bandstand from June through August. The Stonewall Brigade Band is the nation’s oldest community band. Depending on the occasion they played for, the band was known before the Civil War as the Mountain Sax Horn Band or Turner’s Silver Cornet Band. There are 120 band members on the active roll ranging in ages from 13 to 84. The band has played for presidents Fillmore, Pierce, Grant, Taft, McKinley, Cleveland, and Wilson. This year marks the 124th year that the Stonewall Brigade band has played in Gypsy Hill Park. To date the concert series is already underway, and each Monday evening will have a different theme. As always the band will play rain or shine, tradition holds that during rainy evenings, the audience will listen to the concert from their cars and honk their horn as applause. The band welcomes the audience to email with their favorite songs performed during the series for a “best of” concert at the end of the season.
2013 Themes for Stonewall Brigade Concert Series
- June 4 – Featuring Guest Soloist Vince Tornello on Saxophone
- June 10 – Annual Flag Day Concert
- June 17 – Concert favorites – The Music Man, Nimrod, The Civil War, Batman
- June 24 – From Offenbach to the Pink Panther
- July 1 – Celebrating our Nation's Founding
- July 8 – Marches, Broadway, and Movie Themes
- July 15 – Kids' Concert in the Park – everything from Justin Bieber to Adele to Spongebob Squarepants, with a special appearance by Ronald McDonald at 7pm
- July 22 – Band Pieces New and Old
- July 29 – Tiptoe Through the Tubas, Phantom of the Opera, & Disney
- August 5 – British Band Classics (Wagner, Hoagy Carmichael)
- August 12 – British Band Classics (The Fantasticks & Harry James)
- August 19 – British Band Classics (Grandioso, Mary Poppins, and a Polka)
- August 26 – Best of the Season
Jazz in the Park Summer Concert Series
In the months of July and August the bandstand will host the Jazz in the Park concert series, every Thursday evening at 8:00 pm. The Rotary club of Staunton-Augusta sponsors this summer concert series, and also helped to build the new concession stand. The Rotary Club is a non-profit service club of local business owners whose motto is “Service above self”. The jazz in the Park concert series is brought to the public by the Rotary Club as a gift for summer fellowship. The concerts held at the Stonewall Brigade bandstand are great opportunities to spend the evening in the park, enjoying the summer weather with your family.
Jazz in the Park Summer 2013 Concert Series Schedule
- July 11 – Just Jazzin' Big Band
- July 18 – Jane Powell Quartet
- July 28 – Le HOTCLUB
- August 1 – The Boogie Kings
- August 8 – Kip Williams and Bop Nation
- August 15 – Barry Gurley Trio
- August 22 – Quatro Na Bossa
- August 29 – Dave Pope Quartet
Gypsy Hill Park is located in the heart of Staunton, about a 20 minute drive west of Cabin Creekwood. For more information check out the links to the following websites: