Syracuse Faculty, Alumni Help Bones East Mark 40th Anniversary With Local Concerts
Members of the University are helping the Bones East trombone ensemble mark its 40th anniversary with a trio of local concerts, beginning with a Palm Sunday performance at DeWitt Community Church (DCC).
The 25-piece group returns to DCC on Sunday, April 2, from 2 to 3 p.m. The program features traditional and contemporary favorites, including several new arrangements by co-director Tom Camp.
Although the concert is free and open to the public, attendees are encouraged to make a $10 tax-deductible donation to the church’s music ministry fund. DCC is located at 3600 Erie Blvd. in DeWitt. Parking is free. For more information, visit dewittchurch.org.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate our 40th anniversary with what is turning into a springtime tradition at DeWitt Community Church,” says co-director Bill Harris ’65, G’79, who recently retired from a 50-year career in the University’s Setnor School of Music and at Onondaga Community College. “I can’t think of a better way to usher in the holiday season while giving back to the community.”
The concert runs the stylistic gamut. DCC Music Director and organist Abel Searor ’08, G’10 joins Bones East for the “Adagio” from Saint-Saens’ “Third Symphony (Organ)” and “Nessum dorma“ from Puccini’s “Turandot.” The latter, recently arranged by Camp, features soloist Pete Sanborn.
Other soloists include Mark Anderson G’18 and Dave DiGennaro ’91, both of whom shine in the world premiere of Camp’s up-tempo arrangement of “Jada.” DiGennaro also takes a turn in the Duke Ellington chestnut “Reflections,” arranged by Camp, as well.
The world premiere of a jazz sextet by Loyola University Professor John Mahoney also is on tap.
“We’re grateful to partner with groups like Bones East,” says Searor, who teaches in the Setnor School and the Department of Drama, both of which reside in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. “Music is vital to what we do [at DCC] because it enhances worship and fosters a sense of community.”
The Palm Sunday concert is well-timed, given the church’s acquisition of a new, technologically state-of-the-art organ. “It’s like welcoming a new family member,” says Searor, who also oversees DCC’s chancel choir and adult bell choir.
Bones East was founded by Howard Kelley ’42 in 1983, around the same time that he and his wife, Gayle, started the Skaneateles Community Band. Since then, Bones East has concertized throughout the region while attracting a deep bench of talent that includes students, retirees, music educators and performers.
Some members also play in the award-winning Syracuse University Brass Ensemble (SUBE), housed in the College of Arts and Sciences—Jim D’Addario ’80, Clifford Crain and Jim Greenwald, to name a few.
Harris, who retired in 2009 after 48 years as principal trombonist of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, has taught musicians in SUBE and Bones East. “I feel like I’ve come full circle as a teacher,” he says.
The former Goon Squad member has fond memories of his student days at Syracuse—performing at the 1960 Cotton Bowl; picking up an Orange Key Award with football great Ernie Davis ’62; and pledging Phi Gamma Delta, where he met his artist wife, Karen ’65, at a Gamma Phi Beta mixer. Fifty-eight years on, they’re still married.
Harris also is a West Point Band alumnus, a retired fire police captain for the Fayetteville Fire Department, a marshal of the Syracuse St. Patrick’s Day Parade and an avid golfer. “If I swing my trombone like my golf club, I’m happy,” he says.
Bones East will present a joint concert with SUBE on Saturday, April 15, at 2 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (259 East Onondaga St., Syracuse). The trombone group will then perform a concert on Sunday, May 7, at 2 p.m. at the United Church of Cortland (25 Church St., Cortland) benefitting earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey.
