Student helps bring U.S. Navy Concert Band to Utica

The U.S. Navy Concert Band performs March 3, 2016 at the Stanley Center for the Arts in downtown Utica.

The city of Utica was one of 23 cities in five states that played host to a performance by the United States Navy Band during its 2016 tour, and that’s in no small part thanks to the hard work of a student at SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

Scott Murray, a New Hartford resident and student at SUNY Poly serves on the Committee for the Public Performance of the United States Navy Concert Band responsible for bringing the U.S. Navy Band to the area.

“A bunch of us got together and wanted to bring world-class entertainment to the city of Utica,” Murray told WKTV. “Kind of as a tribute to all the great things that have happened in our community. In doing that, we evaluated a couple of different performing groups and once we got down to the logistics of getting the different groups here..we got in touch with the Public Information officer to bring the Navy Band here, and it was sheer luck that they had that particular date open and were going to be traveling through the area.”

Upon his visit to Utica, Murray says the Public Information Officer for the Navy band called the Stanley Center for the Arts in downtown Utica one of the most impressive venues they’ve played.

The Navy Concert Band, the premier wind ensemble of the U.S. Navy, presented a wide array of marches, patriotic selections, orchestral transcriptions and modern wind ensemble repertoire.

As the original ensemble of the Navy Band, the Concert Band has been performing public concerts and participating in high-profile events for nearly 90 years.

One of the U.S. Navy Band’s primary responsibilities involves touring the country. All of the band’s primary performing units embark each year on concert tours throughout specified regions of the country, allowing the band to reach out to audiences in areas of the country that do not have opportunities to see the Navy’s premier musical ensembles on a regular basis. The concerts are family-friendly events, meant to be entertaining to veterans, families, individuals and those interested in joining the Navy.

“I think we’re doing a great thing for the city of Utica, and we’re very excited about it,” Murray said.

The performance sold out of its thousands of seats a week prior to the event.