ATTENTION CALENDAR & PSA EDITORS
Cal Band Director Robert Calonico Conducts
SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band in “BANDANCING”
8 pm, Friday, March 13
San Francisco – Fresh from its march in the Obama Inaugural Parade and an NPR feature on its Dance-Along Nutcracker®, the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band presents “BANDANCING: A Celebration of Music in Motion.” Guest conducted by Cal Band Director Robert Calonico, “BANDANCING” showcases dance-inspired music in styles ranging from cake walk to jazz waltz, tango to schottische, Peruvian folk to modern. Program includes Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Jesters,” Robert Russell Bennett’s “Suite of Old American Dances,” Shostakovich’s “Folk Dances” and Saint-Saëns’ “Pas Redoublé.”
Concert begins 8 pm, Friday, March 13 at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 678 Portola Drive, San Francisco. Info: 415.255.1355; www.sflgfb.org. Reception and photo exhibit by A Woman’s Eye Gallery follows. Wheelchair accessible. Admission free.
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Robert Calonico has served as the Director of Bands at the University of California, Berkeley, since 1994. There he directs and arranges for the Cal Marching Band and conducts the University Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band. Calonico programmed the Cal Band’s most recent recording, “University of California Band,” released in May of 2003. The University Wind Ensemble was invited to perform under his direction at the California Music Educator’s State Conference in March of 2000 and has shared the stage with their counterparts at CSU Fresno, UC Davis, Los Medanos College, Stanford University, University of the Pacific and the University of Tokyo. Prior to his appointment at U.C. Berkeley, Mr. Calonico held faculty positions at Dominican College and Terra Linda High School in San Rafael, California.
Mr. Calonico is a graduate of St Mary’s College High School in Berkeley and holds a B.A. in music from UC Berkeley. He earned his teaching credential and a M.A. in clarinet performance from California State University, Hayward. In his 35 years of professional experience, he has performed with the Oakland East Bay Symphony, Oakland Ballet, California Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Berkeley Repertory Theater, many San Francisco based Broadway show productions including Phantom of the Opera and West Side Story, Natalie Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Maria Muldaur, James Brown, Tex Beneke and Harry James Orchestras. Mr. Calonico currently serves as Bay Section President for the California Music Educators Association. In 2007, Calonico was named the new Associate Conductor of the Danville Community Band, an 85-piece band performing in the East Bay since 2001
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Named the "Official Band of San Francisco" in honor of its 25th anniversary, the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band is the first openly gay musical organization in the world, inspiring the formation of gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender/intersex/questioning/ queer bands, choruses and performing groups around the globe. Founded in 1978 by Jon Sims at the height of Anita Bryant's anti-gay crusade, the Band has made music to build understanding between gay and non-gay communities for more than two decades.
In addition to performing for hundreds of thousands at parades throughout the year, the Band presents its Cable Car Award-winning Community Concert Series, a series of free, pops-style symphonic concerts. Members of the Band recently marched in the Obama Inaugural Parade with the Lesbian & Gay Band Association as the first openly LGBT contingent in a presidential inaugural parade.
Its annual Dance-Along Nutcracker® draws sell-out crowds and has been regularly featured in local and national news media, including the San Francisco Chronicle; National Public Radio; Good Morning, America; the Today Show and The Wall Street Journal.
The Band performs for community events like the unveiling of the Harvey Milk Statue at City Hall, the San Francisco AIDS Walk in Golden Gate Park and the Seniors Connection New Year's Dinner at the Tenderloin YMCA. In 2006, it was named the Most Absolutely Fabulous Contingent of the San Francisco LGBTQ Pride Parade. In 2008, the Band recreated its 1978 debut in the SF Pride Parade for the Gus Van San film “Milk;” became the first live band to perform at ARCO Arena at a Sacramento Monarch’s game and took first place in the 2008 Corte Madera 4th of July Parade.
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BANDANCING is part of the 2008-09 Community Concert Series of the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, named the Official Band of the City of San Francisco. The SFLGFB is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and is proud to be sponsored in part by Grants for the Arts of the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, the Jon Sims Endowment Fund for the Performing Arts and Betty’s List.
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