BHS ALUMNI JOIN NEW ENGLAND TENORS GALA BENEFIT CONCERT AND SILENT AUCTION

In one week the Burlington High School Music Boosters will host their annual Gala Benefit Concert and Silent Auction in the Fogelberg Performing Arts Center of the high school. The event will take place on Saturday, November 5, at 7:30 pm. Doors will open at 6:30 pm for bidding on our exciting silent auction items.

Silent auction items include tickets to the Boston Red Sox, orchestra seats for La Cage Aux Folles, season tickets to all BHS theatrical productions, gift baskets and gift cards for services and eateries in the Burlington area. All proceeds from the concert will go directly to the programs of the Music Boosters which include scholarships, transportation, award banquets and other items requested by music staff that support successful educational experiences and musical performances.

The performers are busily preparing for what promises to be an exeptional night of music and memories. Not only will the New England Tenors be returning after an overwhelmingly popular performance last year but we will also bring back stars of BHS musicals past in revivals of their showstopping songs.

The NEW ENGLAND TENORS will be guest artists for the event following their highly acclaimed concert performance last year. The tenors, JOHN MIDDLETON-COX (Burlington Public School’s own Coordinator of Music), DAMIEN CORCORAN and RAY BAUWENS, will perform musical selections that cross generations and styles, from opera to musical theatre to Irish rock!

Alumni who will return to perform at the Gala Benefit Concert are:

ANGELA RICHARDSON (2004), who is remembered for her larger than life portrayal of Auntie Mame at BHS. A graduate from Eastern Nazarene College in music performance, she is employed by the Reagle Music Theatre of Boston. Angela has performed with a number of local theatre companies including Nunsense with the Burlington Players and most recently as Jo in the Wellesley Players sold out run of Little Women.

AMANDA POTTS (2004), a graduate of the University of Connecticut and a MMuEd student at Gordon College. She is remembered at BHS for her roles in Guys and Dolls and Mame.  Amanda has recently starred in The Center for the Performing Arts (Natick) production of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change and ACT Andover’s production of Beauty and the Beast. Amanda is the instrumental music teacher at Francis Wyman Elementary School.

ANDREA GIANGRECO (2009) who recently graduate of Salem State College. She is remembered for her lead roles in the BHS productions of Anything Goes and Les Miserables, and comes back to BHS following a run in the Turtle Lane Players production of The Rocky Horror Show. Andrea has also played several lead roles with the Pentucket Players of Haverhill.

EVA RAE COSTANZA (2010), who is currently studying musical theatre at Boston Conservatory. Eva, a former youth performer with North Shore Music Theatre, performed lead roles at BHS in Les Mis, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Annie and The Wizard of Oz, as well as the Burlington Educational Summer Theatre production of Annie! She is a costuming assistant with The Costume Room and has worked with Backyard Broadway and Burlington Educational Summer Theatre.

JAMIE COOK (2010), currently a student at Hofstra University in New York. Jamie is best remembered for her roles in Thorough Modern Millie and The Wizard of Oz, and has been seen in the Burlington Educational Summer Theatre production of Annie.  She returns to Burlington following a lead role in Hofstra’s production of The New Brain. 

There will also be a special performance of a selection from Fiddler on the Roof by TAHLEEN (2005), NISHAN (2008) and ZAVEN OVIAN (2012) with their mother and outgoing Music Boosters member, VANESSA OVIAN. The Ovians have collectively appeared in every musical that has appeared on the BHS stage for the past ten years. They have played lead roles in Mame, Jekyll & Hyde, Les Mis, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Titanic and Beauty and the Beast, and the Burlington Eduational Summer Theatre productions of Annie and Little Shop of Horrors. They have all participated in both the BHS band and chorus programs.Vanessa has an MA in Vocal Performance. 

Please make plans to join us on Saturday evening, November 5 at 7:30 with family and friends!

A festive dessert buffet will be served during our silent auction intermission!

Tickets are available online at www.burlingtontickets.org or at the music office. Info: 781-A-FUN-TIC.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL? BHS vs. WATERTOWN

Yes, yes, yes, it snowed last night. Uh huh, we know, it's before Halloween and November.

OK now, GET OVER IT!

Are you ready for some football????

Tonight Burlington is gonna stomp Watertown on our own home turf! The game starts promptly at 7:00 pm so don't be late.

The BHS Marching Band will present their newest routine to the hometown crowd. Don't miss them ... the pride of Burlington . . . they never disappoint!

Oh yeah......bring something to sit on. Those shiny new benches can get a wee bit cold in this blustery weather ; )  

GALA BENEFIT CONCERT AND SILENT AUCTION: New England Tenors in return engagement

The Burlington High School Music Boosters Association is pleased to announce that it will hold its annual Gala Benefit Concert and Silent Auction on Saturday, November 5 at 7:30 pm, in the Fogelberg Performing Arts Center of Burlington High School.

Following an overwhelming response to their performance at last year’s event, the Music Boosters have invited The New England Tenors back for a return engagement. The benefit will also showcase Burlington High School alumni in reprise performances from musicals past.

The New England Tenors members John Middleton-Cox, Damien Corcoran and Ray Bauwens, never cease to captivate their audiences with their brilliant cross-generational performances. With combined roots in musical theatre, opera and rock, repertoire includes classics made famous by The Three Tenors, the Irish Tenors, operatic arias, and just the right sprinkling of current and popular favorites.

John Middleton-Cox, tenor, is originally from Northern New York and holds a Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Boston Conservatory. As a classical tenor, he has performed a variety of professional roles from Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus to the Duke in Patience, and regards Jordan Hall, the Emerson Majestic and The Old North Church to be among his favorite performance venues. Middleton-Cox is the Coordinator of Music in Burlington, Massachusetts, where he also conducts the high school choruses and produces and directs the spring musical. He is Music Director at North Parish Church in North Andover.

Damien Corcoran, tenor, obtained a Bachelor of Arts in music from Rutgers University where he performed for five years with the Rutgers Opera Workshop. Other favorite performances include those with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops as a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Amato Opera Company in New York City. In addition to a capella performances in restaurants in New Jersey and Massachusetts, Corcoran is the lead man for the Irish-flavored rock band, Demijon Music Clan.

Ray Bauwens, tenor, is well known to audiences not only in New England but also internationally. Some of Mr. Bauwens’ recent performances have included the roles of Cavaradossi in Tosca, Dick Johnson in La Faciulaa del West, Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera, and Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana. He has appeared with the National Symphony of the Ukraine, the Mexico State Symphony Orchestra, the Handel and Haydn Society, Opera Providence, Connecticut Concert Opera, Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, Boston Civic Orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonic and during Lila York’s staging of the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Boston Ballet.

The Gala Benefit Concert and Silent Auction is the most successful fundraiser for the Burlington High School Music Boosters Association. Proceeds from the event will fund scholarships, support award banquets, assist in transportation and fulfill wish-list requests from the music department.

Admission to the Gala Benefit Concert and Silent Auction is $15 adults, $10 senior citizens and students. Ticket prices include reserved seats at the evening’s performance and festive dessert buffet served during intermission at which time bids may be placed on silent auction items. Tickets can be purchased online at www.burlingtontickets.org. For more information please phone 781-A-FUN-TIC.

The Fogelberg Performing Arts Center, located at 123 Cambridge Street, is handicapped accessible (for special assistance, please phone 781-270-1860).

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Burlington Red Devils vs. Melrose, come rain or come shine!

DUE TO HEAVY RAIN, LIGHTNING AND THUNDER, THE BHS MARCHING BAND WILL NOT BE PLAYING AT THE GAME TONIGHT. SEE THEM NEXT WEEK IN WAKEFIELD...GAME STARTS AT 7 PM.

At the risk of wearing out an age old song, "Rain, rain, go away, come again another day!"

Tonight's match-up between Burlington and Melrose WILL take place rain or shine! We're ready the for Melrose Red Raiders...the band is raring to go after last weekend's performance at the Salem Invitational.

The game is in Burlington at 7:00 pm but it is a home game for Melrose...their field is being worked on so the schedule was a bit confusing.

Don't forget to bring an umbrella, rain jacket and something to sit on that will keep your tush warm and dry!

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SHOW: BHS Marching Band Takes Field in Salem

This is the year of lasts for me.

In what is my first of the lasts I attended my 11th and final Salem Marching Band Invitational in New Hampshire this past weekend as a BHS parent along with 3,000+ of my closest marching band friends and afficionados.

The Salem Marching Band Invitational is a rare experience at which our band students, dance squad and flag corps perform for a stadium filled to the max. Most of the bands over the past years have hailed from New Hampshire, with an occasional band from Maine. Burlington is the only group from Massachusetts to perform in recent years. Reminiscing about the past ten performances in Salem, I’d like to share some fond memories and observations.

• Size never counts! There have been marching bands as diminutive as 30 and as gargantuan as 350 members. No matter the size, each and every group has worked its hardest to come to this moment in time where their performance holds the attention of every musician and spectator. These bands are always fantastic!

• Why can’t we be friends? It doesn’t matter who is seated next to you, every parent shares in the joy of the next, cheering and whooping it up for every marching ensemble. It is quite a unique experience, one of which (and I'm quite sure about this) our own band members are unaware. We point out our own students, talk about previous years and, well, be just who we are . . . proud parents!

• R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Aretha may never know how much this word has meant to the musicians who take the field. Marching routines are always performed with nary a movement or noise in the stands. In fact, I remember being a bit startled at this during the first year I had attended.

• Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! How true! Those of us who have attended a few of the Salem events have noticed that the innovative style of the BHS band has returned to the Invitational in subsequent years.

• The Show Must Go On! Sometimes there are near disasters. I will never forget the year we had a mishap with transportation, necessitating students, instruments, hats and plumes to cram into cars for the trip! My drive up to Salem included passing cars crammed with red and white, with brass instruments filling the voids!

• Instruments Abound! For a few years we have seen extended percussion ensembles on the field and sideline of the Salem Invitational, hauled in on large rolling barges! But it’s pretty safe to say that Burlington has become the innovator once again by introducing a full section of electric guitars, powered by a high-voltage car battery. That’ll be picked up next year!

• Neither rain, nor sleet nor . . . ! Still fresh in my memory was the nearly ill-fated invitational when the skies opened up prior to the event and it had to be moved into the gymnasium of Salem High School. Never fear. The BHS band hastily revamped its marching routine in the hallway just prior to their entrance and dazzled everyone.

• Dancin', Dancin', DANCIN'! They’re a dancing machine! As the years have passed, dancing moves have crept into marching band routines, dipping and swaying to the music, and I'm quite certain BHS had a lot to do with that! Adding a special pizzazz where no other groups could, the BHS Dance Squad has always been the only one of its kind and spectators throughout the stands are always impressed! This years’ rolling line of splits were greeted enthusiastically with cheers from the crowd!

• BHS Flags: The Fabric of Our Lives! The BHS Flag Corps has always provided flash and backdrop with their twirling athleticism on the field. Snapping and twirling with the rhythms on the field, their colorful displays are the accessory to the music, like the loveliest of jewelry on a beautiful garment.

• Something to aspire to. There is no question that our marching band students have been part of a remarkable event at the Salem Invitational. Their participation has always given them an opportunity to see what and how other schools are performing. Not only have they seen peers from other schools, they have also been given an opportunity to see how the colleges perform when the UMass Lowell and the University of New Hampshire alternate performance years.


The pin I purchased at the Salem Marching Band Invitational pretty much sums it up:

MARCHING BAND

One day football will be played at half time!

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SHOW!

Vanessa Ovian

BHS MARCHING BAND WARMS UP FOR SALEM INVITATIONAL TONIGHT!

This evening at precisely 6:00 pm the Salem (NH) Marching Band Invitational will commence, a much anticipated event for all participating bands. The Burlington High School Marching Band will take the field as the fourth band on the program, with an estimated time in the 6:45-7:00 range.

The Salem Invitational has been a much anticipated favorite for years, giving our students the opportunity to see what and how other marching bands are performing, thus nurturing the creativity of every member. From the smallest groups of perhaps 30 members to the largest of over 300, it is a lovefest for officiandos and an evening of pure talent, innovation and entertainment for all.

Salem High School is located at 44 Geremonty Blvd. Salem, NH.

Directions: 93N to exit 1, Rockingham Blvd. Bear right, road name changes to Veterans Memorial Parkway. Cross over Rte 28 and continue to Geremonty Blvd, turn left. Continue down Geremonty Blvd, high school is on your left. Parking at high school fills up fast, you can park across the street at town offices, too.

WORD OF WARNING! In order to find parking and secure a good seat, plan to arrive early…5:15-5:30 is about right. There is an admission price, programs and concessions are available for purchase.

THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Burlington Red Devils vs. Reading Rockets

This week's varsity football match-up will see the Burlington Red Devils take on the Reading Rockets in another much anticipated game on home turf on THURSDAY, September 6! Following last week's victory over Woburn, the team is pumped up for another!

The BHS Marching Band will be light up the field as they perform their half-time show. Don't miss their exciting performance on the field just two days prior to their participation in the Salem (NH) Invitational on Saturday.

Note to BHS: We love the new scoreboard! Thanks go out to Goochis Insurance!