Familiar Look to Summer Concert Series

Barrington's free Summer Concert Series opens on Sunday evening, June 23. And it has a very familiar look.

The Rhode Island Wind Ensemble will open the series again just south of the Town Hall next to the library from 6 to 7:30 pm. You need to bring your own chairs or blankets.

The other three concert dates and performers are:

• Sunday, July 28, Atwater-Donnelly, on the Town Hall lawn, 6 to 7:15 pm.
• Sunday, Aug. 4, The NightLife Orchestra, at Tillinghast Farm off of Nayatt Road, 6 to 7:30 pm.
• Sunday, Aug. 18, The Driftwoods, at Barrington Beach, 6 to 7:30 pm.

BankNewport is again sponsoring the town concert series in partnership with the recreation department. All of the groups have been playing each summer in Barrington for several years.

The wind ensemble is the resident group at Rhode Island College. It is directed by Robert Franzblau. Here is a profile of the group from its website.

“The Rhode Island Wind Ensemble is a dynamic performing group of more than forty skilled professional and amateur musicians. All the members are volunteers: people with a wide age range, from all walks of life.

“The Rhode Island Wind Ensemble provides a forum for this diverse membership to perform and share their love of music with the community. In this setting, the director elicits and continues to develop the finest musicianship.”

The profile goes on to say that the ensemble offer “a wide repertoire of music: orchestral transcriptions, opera and symphonic pieces, ethnic, contemporary and traditional band repertoire, jazz, musical and movie themes.”

The ensemble performs “in concert halls and at outdoor venues, with annual concerts throughout Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts. We have collaborated with choral, instrumental, community and school groups, including Providence College Ensembles. Our concerts often feature instrumental and vocal soloists drawn from our group and the professional community.”