Concert series continues next week with Savannah River Winds
By MIM WOODRING
Savannah River Winds was organized in May 2001 and will celebrate May 22 with an outdoor concert in the second of Music in the Park series of 11 concerts.
Real musicians like nothing better than to perform and it was this desire that led Richard Brasco and Lou Cefus to establish the wind ensemble composed of band directors, university professors musicians from professional fields and college students from South Carolina and Georgia. Area musicians liked this group and were invited or auditioned for an opportunity to make music together.
In the short time they have been together the Savannah River Winds have been accepted as a mature group. The ensemble first performed for the Memorial Day celebration in Columbia County, Ga. Since their inaugural concert they have performed for the GMEA District Ten Honor Band Clinics, the Living Heritage Park series, Burk County Fine Arts concerts and Hopeland Gardens series. The Winds have presented concerts for several years in honor/memory of Veterans in November in conjunction with the NA Cultural Arts Council..
Savannah River Winds has also performed at the 2004 Georgia Music Educators Association State Music In-Service Convention in Savannah and the 2006 South Carolina Music Educators State Music Convention in Charleston.
Recently composer David Shaffer asked the Winds to record 10 of his compositions for a compact disc. Shaffer attended the recording session and conducted several of his selections.
Brasco makes his home in North Augusta and for 35 years directed bands in South Carolina and Georgia. His bands have performed in Georgia and South Carolina's State Music Conventions and the ASBDA National Convention. His ensembles have given guest performances at the University of Georgia and South Carolina, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, the Lord Mayor's Parade in London, the Easter Festival in Maastricht in the Netherlands, and Westminster Central Hall in London.
He is adjunct faculty at Augusta State University and conducts the ASU Conservatory Wind Symphony. Brasco is in demand as clinician and adjudicator having worked in Alaska, North and South Carolina, London and Edinburgh, Scotland.
Music in the Park is at Maude Edenfield Park where the NA Community Center is located on Brookside. In event of rain the concert will be moved to the Community Center. The concert starts at 7 p.m. and the audience is reminded to bring chairs or blankets.
Presented by the North Augusta Cultural Arts Committee, Page Kight is chairing the concert series She was pleased to announce the Title sponsors are University Hospital Health Care System and Georgialina Physical Therapy Associates. "The arts council is appreciative of these sponsosrships," Kight said. The City of North August and South Carolina Arts Commission also assist in sponsoring these free concerts.
