Spirit of America is selling its current keyboard instruments. All instruments were purchased in 2005 (unless otherwise noted), and have been well-cared for and impeccably maintained. Click on the following link for a pdf with information about the instruments and how to purchase: SOA_Keyboard_Sale

Join Spirit of America Wind Ensemble for two excellent concerts this week!

Thursday, July 22, 6:30 pm
Eldredge Park in Orleans
Benefiting Lower Cape Outreach Council. Bring a free will offering or non-perishable item and help fill the pantry!
Come and hear a blend of the best: patriotic marches, show tunes, classics, medleys and more by Spirit of America’s finest musicians:
Four Dances from West Side Story by Bernstein
Prairie Wind by Greg Sanders
The Two Imps by Kenneth Alford
Summon the Heroes by John Williams
Alexander’s Ragtime Band by Irving Berlin
and more!

Saturday, July 24, 7 pm
Spirit of America is featured at Mashpee Night at the Pops!
Spirit of America Wind Ensemble presents a program featuring beautiful American symphonic works by Copland, Grundman, Williams, Sousa, Bernstein, and more, plus the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky, and an appearance by the Fife and Drum Corps! The evening ends with an extraordinary fireworks display! Visit www.mashpeepops.com for tickets and information.

In preparation for our tour to South Africa in 2011, Spirit of America launches “Instruments in the Attic.”

On tour this year, Spirit of America had the opportunity to work with several inner-city groups. It is such a pleasure and privilege to teach these eager and talented young musicians, but heartbreaking to realize that due to lack of funds the instruments they need are simply not available.

This is just a taste of what we know we will encounter in South Africa! Please help us spread hope and possibility to these South African young people. If you have an instrument that is no longer in use, we will be pleased to take it with us, and give it to a child there. Spirit of America will teach music to these children, and also how to maintain and care for the instruments, so the joy and beauty of the music they make can last for generations!

So if you have an instrument to give — a clarinet in your basement, a trombone in your attic, even a spare drum head in your closet — please email info@spiritofamericaband.org. Thank you!

Spirit of America Wind Ensemble performs In Concert this Thursday, July 15, at 6:30 at Eldredge Park in Orleans!

Come and hear a blend of the best performed by Spirit of America’s finest musicians — patriotic marches, show tunes, classical works and more!
The Star Spangled Banner
The Sound of Music - Richard Rodgers, arr.Howard Cable
Fairest of the Fair - J.P. Sousa
US Air Force March – Robert Crawford
Brasses to the Fore – Harold Walters
Chimes of Liberty – Edwin Franko Goldman
Buck Private – Mourton Gold, trans. Philip Lang
Triple Trombones - Michel van Delft
Folk Song Suite – R.Vaughan Williams
Music Box Dancer – Frank Mills, arr. Bob Lowden
The Blue and the Gray - Clare Grundman
Arabian Nights from Disney’s “Aladdin” – arr. Jay Bocook
The Stars and Stripes Forever – J.P. Sousa

Bring the family and a picnic and enjoy this FREE concert! All free will offerings benefit Lower Cape Outreach Council. Bring a non-perishable item and help fill the pantry!

Wednesday, July 7, Spirit of America arrived in Indianapolis, and had an incredible afternoon of workshops with band students from several Indianapolis high schools, including Shortridge High School and its newly re-instituted marching band! Indianapolis residents will read all about it in this feature article in the Indy Star.

These workshops, which continued on Thursday, were the result of a collaboration with Keith White: a kindred spirit of the band, with a passion for what music can do for young people. Spirit of America met Mr. White, the Director of Instrumental Music & Band for Indianapolis Public Schools, and the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago last December. He has been working since then to make these workshops and show possible for all of his students. As we well know, the rewards of these workshops were mutual for both the students and the members of Spirit of America! Several of the students were quick to express their excitement about how much they learned, and their response to the performance of Exploration that night was overwhelming. These young musicians will definitely remain in our hearts!

On July 3rd, Spirit of America got back to the heart of its mission, and had the opportunity to work with about 50 young musicians from Chicago. We covered some drill basics, music, and drum majoring skills, and the students seemed excited and ready to step-up their band programs! At the end of the day, we got to perform “Exploration” for them. As much as we hope to provide some inspiration through the hope and beauty of music, we are even more inspired by the opportunity to interface with these young lives. What a privilege!

What does SOA do with 60 trashcans?

If you haven’t been to Exploration 2010 yet, come on down to St. Xavier University tonight at 8 pm and see!

Spirit of America is now an Amazon Affiliate! Help us earn some extra funds by making purchases through our website. Click on the link below!

On Thursday nights at 6:30 pm, July 15, 22, and 29, Spirit of America will perform a series of free concerts at Eldredge Park in its hometown of Orleans, Massachusetts. Bring family and friends, share a picnic, and come enjoy beautiful music on a summer evening. These concerts benefit Lower Cape Outreach. Bring a free will offering or a non-perishable item and help us fill the pantry!

Spirit of America Wind Ensemble celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Church of the Transfiguration this weekend, with a concert on Saturday, June 12 at 1:30 pm. The uplifting concert program features symphonic arrangements of hymns and more, played outdoors in the church atrium. Tickets are $20 and include dessert! A Box Lunch is also available for $10 at 12:30 pm. For tickets call 508-240-2400. The Church of the Transfiguration is located at 5 Bayview Drive, Orleans, MA 02653.

Spirit of America marches in the Holden Memorial Day Parade — catch the marching band on Monday, May 31 in Holden, MA. Visit their website here!

Check it out!

It’s all hands on deck tonight! After a great camp on Saturday with André Feagin, Jennifer Leseth, and Melissa Ganser, Spirit of America will dust off the set and touch up the props for “Exploration.”

Here’s what WGI said about Spirit of America Winter Percussion: “Spirit of America” captured the scenic vistas of the American west with “Ameriscapes”. Even before playing a note, our eyes were treated to one of the most striking sets of the weekend with wheat fields, a river, and mountains painted on their floor. During a pastoral middle section, the battery picked up handbells and played “Simple Gifts”. The echo of handbells in a silent arena full of spectators was haunting. The mountain backdrops grew taller in the finale, with fabric mountaintops ascending, creating a memorable lasting impression.”

Spirit of America Winter Percussion just completed prelims at the WGI Percussion Championships in Dayton in 5th place with a score of 88.013!!!  Check back for their performance time at finals — we’ll keep you posted!

You can watch Spirit of America Winter Percussion in real time out in Dayton! Go to wgi.thefannetwork.org and click on “Live Webcast”. Prelims are on Thursday and Finals are on Friday! GO WP!!!

Spirit of America Winter Percussion has worked their way through regionals in Blackstone, Trumbull, Swansea, and Dudley, and is now preparing for NESBA Finals in Dartmouth on April 3. The judges have loved WP’s new show Ameriscapes, with music of Aaron Copland arranged by Seagull 7. With their innovative use of handbells, a complete battery and front ensemble swap mid-show, and their incredible age range (from 9 years old to mid-20’s!), Spirit of America Winter Percussion definitely stands out in the crowd! Spirit of America is so proud of these young performers. Help us cheer them on to the WGI Championships in Dayton! Click here to see them in action.

When Spirit of America had need of a few more instruments for practicing over the winter months, three schools nearby generously loaned us everything we needed. Thanks to them, our new brass and woodwind players did not miss a beat in the preparations for our Summer 2010 tour. Many, many thanks to them for their generosity, and we wish them all the best in the upcoming season!

Jarrod Gorman, Band Director
Bishop Hendricken High School, Warwick, RI

Mark Colozzi, Band Director
Cranston East High School, Cranston, RI

Sebastian Bonaiuto, Music Director
Boston College, Boston, MA

Spirit of America is home from its Exploration tour of Chicago, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, and Camillus, NY. It was incredible to work with so many eager young musicians, and to perform for these audiences across the country, spreading hope and inspiration through music.

This year’s show featured some new Explorers. Learn a little more about them here!
Ernest Shackelton (1874-1922) led four expeditions to Antarctica, trying to reach the South Pole.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) defined himself as one of the most recognized artists of the 20^th century through his great evolution in styles and his prolific work.

Jean de Bethencourt (1362-1425) sold all his property to lead an expedition to the Canary Islands in 1402, gaining them for Castile.

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), American architect, interior designer, writer, teacher, and promoter of organic architecture, is known as the “greatest American architect of all time.”

Alexandrine Tinne (1835-1869), a Dutch explorer and photographer in Africa, was the first European woman to attempt to cross the Sahara, and joined in the search for the source of the Nile.

St. Gregory the Illuminator (257-331) overcame intense persecution and imprisonment, eventually converting Armenia from paganism to Christianity, and is now Armenia’s patron saint.

Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) made solo flights across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and attempted to be the first woman to fly around the world.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) made groundbreaking discoveries in motion and mechanics, discovered sunspots, invented the pendulum clock and telescope, among other things!

Martha Graham (1894-1991) liberated the art of dance, creating a new language of dance, choreography, costumes and design.

Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007) became the first woman to serve as prime minister of an Islamic country at age 35, and was killed two weeks before her re-election.

Sally Ride (b. 1951) became the first American woman (and the youngest American) to enter space in 1983 as a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger for STS-7.

Narcissa Whitman (1808-1847) was one of the first European-American women to cross the Rockies. She co-founded the Protestant Whitman Mission in Walla Walla, WA.

Plato (428-328 BC) laid the foundations of science and natural and Western philosophy.

Steve Jobs (b. 1955) is the co-founder and former CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, and co-founder and CEO of Apple, Inc.

Caveman (c. 3500 BC) invented the wheel.

Badri Teymourtash (1911-1989) was the first female Iranian doctor.

Farokhroo Parsa (1922-1980) was a physician, and the first female cabinet minister of an Iranian government.

Mahatma Ghandi (1869-1948) was the pre-eminent spiritual and political leader of India and of the Indian Independence Movement.

Sacagawea (1787-1812 or 1884) joined Lewis and Clark’s famous expedition into the American west, with her baby strapped to a cradle board on her back.

Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) began a new American art form of intimate, precise, and rich beauty, breaking free from the constraints of the artistic images of her day.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) became one of the most recognized and well-known scientists of the 20^th century.

W.A. Mozart (1756-1791) was one of the most prolific and influential composers of the Classical period.

Ibn Battuta (1304-1368) was a Moroccan explorer, who traveled 75,000 miles around the Muslim world and beyond.

Neil Armstrong (b. 1930) is the first human being to walk on the moon.

Lewis and Clark led the “corps of volunteers for Northwestern Discovery” from 1804-1806: the first overland expedition in the U.S. to the Pacific Coast and back.

G.M. Hopkins (1844-1889) was a priest, teacher, and poet whose rhythms changed the world of poetry.

Mother Teresa (1910-1997) founded the order of “The Missionaries of Charity,” and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was an intensely private and personal poet from Amherst, Massachusetts, whose poetic genius was not recognized until years after her death.

Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) led the first expeditions to cross the Pacific Ocean and circumnavigate the Earth.

Leif Erikson (970-1020) was a Norse explorer, and the first European to land in North America.

Martha Stewart (b. 1941) has more influence over American food, entertainment, and décor than anyone else in history.

Isabella Bird (1831-1904) was an Englishwoman who made expeditions around the world, and chronicled them extensively.

Howard Carter (1874-1939) discovered and excavated the tomb of King Tut.