Pacific Brass Band to perform at Elks Scholarship Concert April 29

Published in the April 11 – 24, 2018 Issue of Morgan Hill Life

The Pacific Brass Band performers.

Want to enjoy an afternoon of lively music while helping send youth to college? The Gilroy Elks Lodge will host a scholarship concert fundraiser, featuring the Pacific Brass Band, on Sunday, April 29.

This will be the second concert of its kind, after a successful initial concert for about 130 people in 2017. That event raised nearly $4,000 for the scholarships awarded by the Elks to high school seniors throughout South Valley.

Sam Bozzo, who is serving in his third year as the chair of the Elks Scholarship Committee, said this year’s concert will feature patriotic marches, as well as a medley of Frank Sinatra songs, and music from Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast. It’s sure to be a memorable event.

“It starts with a drumroll,” he said, describing the opening of the concert. “Then everyone rises for The Star-Spangled Banner. And one of the featured marches this year is The Exalted Ruler March, referring to the title given to the leader of the Elks Lodge.”

Pinnacle Bank is the event’s main sponsor, along with Gilroy Chevrolet Cadillac. The event will also include raffles for the scholarship fund.

Tickets for the concert are $30, and include a champagne and appetizer reception at 2 p.m., with the concert following at 3 p.m. Tickets are available in Gilroy at First Street Coffee House, Fifth St. Coffee Roasting Co., Porcella’s Music Store, and the Elks Lodge, as well as BookSmart in Morgan Hill. Youth ages 12 and younger can purchase a $10 ticket, which will be available at the Elks Lodge.

The Pacific Brass Band is an authentic British-style brass band, founded in 1990. Comprised of volunteers, they are led by conductor James O’Briant, a member of the Elks. The group performs traditional brass band favorites, American folk songs, rags, marches, and musical theater selections. Many of the members are music teachers, and they hold rehearsals in Salinas. The band features a variety of cornets, flugelhorns, tenor horns, baritones, euphoniums, trombones, tubas, and percussion.

The Elks’ scholarships are open to all high school seniors, whether they attend public or private high schools. In addition to the rousing musical selections of the Pacific Brass Band, led by James O’Briant, the concert includes brief speeches from scholarship recipients who talk about the colleges they’ll attend. At last year’s event, one student shared plans to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Previous students have gone on to schools such as Stanford and Yale.

The Gilroy Elks Lodge awards six $1,000 scholarships, which can be applied to a recipient’s school of choice, as well as a $1,000 scholarship to Gavilan College. They accept applications for scholarships from September to November.

The Elks Lodge is located at 2765 Hecker Pass Highway in Gilroy. For more information, call (408) 842-9397.