POTSDAM -- The Potsdam Community Band drew such a great crowd last summer that it will be showcased in Ives Park from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 15 during Potsdam Summer Festival.

Potsdam Chamber Executive Director Marylee Ballou announced that the program will include Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G Minor; Jack Bullock’s "Touch of Broadway"; highlights from Oliver!; British Isle Suite by Larry Daehn; and The Pirates of Penzance Overture by Arthur Sullivan.

The Potsdam Community Band was re-established last summer by local residents who wanted to provide more musical opportunities for avocational adult musicians in the area. Over 80 musicians responded to the call, from college professors to beginners, including many who had taken up their instruments for the first time in years. The band’s debut concert was at the 2010 Potsdam Summer Festival, followed by a concert on the Potsdam High School lawn in September 2010 and a holiday concert in January 2011.

For this concert, the band is under the direction of James Madeja, a founding member of the Orchestra of Northern New York and Northern Symphonic Winds. Madeja has toured playing cornet with Keith Brion’s New Sousa Band. For the past 26 years, he has been a member of the Potsdam Brass Quintet. Madeja was conductor of Skyline Brass, a professional large brass ensemble based in Harrisonburg, Va.. He now conducts the Potsdam CPS Orchestra and the Crane Brass Ensemble.

The Potsdam Community Band rehearses at Potsdam Central High School. Anyone interested in joining the band should contact the Personnel Manager Ron Berry at 265-2883.