Reading Community Band to perform two holiday concerts

Saturday December 7 at 11am, the Reading Community Concert Band will help kick-off the Reading Fesival of Trees. This holiday tradition benefits the Reading Education Foundation, which provides grants to promote excellence within the Reading public schools. It takes place in the Parker Middle School at 45 Temple Street, Reading. The Festival will feature many other performances as well, and your admission ticket covers re-entry any time over the weekend-long event. Advanced tickets and full event schedule are available at ReadingEF.org

If you miss the RCCB at the Festival of Trees, you can catch them again on Sunday, December 15th at 3:00pm. Director/Conductor Stephen Bloom has assembled a mix of traditional New England holiday favorites with some fresh arrangements of holiday hymns and carols. This concert will be at the First Congregational Church of Reading, and admission at the door is $10, $5 for students and seniors, and children up to 8 years old enter free. The church address is 25 Woburn street, but the parking is along Sanborn Street and in the Town Hall parking lot.

RCCB was founded in 1996 as an all-ages summer program to promote musical mentorship. It has grown to a 35-piece year-round symphonic wind ensemble under director of Stephen Bloom, and there is room for more - particularly if you play french horn, percussion, or flute. Bring your axe (or mallets, etc) to one of our Monday evening rehearsals and "try us out"; more information at www.readingconcertband.org.

Come enjoy the music, admire the artistry of the trees decorated by your neighbors and local sponsors, and perhaps win one of them to take home. The Festival of Trees is always the best family entertainment value of the season, and proceeds go toward projects tha expand the scope of education beyond traditional classroom learning. Enjoy a good time, for a good cause.