Yesterday, Green-Wood hosted its 14th Annual Free Memorial Day Concert. A big crowd turned out to enjoy the music of the Interschool Orchestras of New York (ISO) Symphonic Band, founded and conducted by Brian Worsdale. Maggie Worsdale was the special guest vocalist.
It has become a tradition at Green-Wood: the concert music features pieces composed by Green-Wood’s permanent residents. This year the music included “All That Jazz” (lyrics by Fred Ebb, interred in a mausoleum on the shore of Sylvan Water), a dramatic recitation of “Casey At The Bat” (the legendary poem, made famous by William De Wolfe Hopper, interred in lot 5805), “Overture to Candide” (a great piece composed by Leonard Bernstein, who reposes up on Green-Wood’s Battle Hill, along Liberty Path), a Sinatra medley (Sinatra made famous Kander and Ebb’s classic, “New York, New York,”–which is still played after a Yankee home win), and a “Tribute to Paul Jabara,” a special work commissioned by the Green-Wood Historic Fund for this concert. For more about composer Paul Jabara, a Brooklyn native, and his career, including his ties to the recently-deceased Donna Summer and Whitney Houston, click here.
One of the most touching elements of the day was the “Armed Forces Salute”–a medley of the music of each of the service branches–in which veterans in attendance stood, to applause, as their branch was honored.
It was a real traditional celebration of America: its music, its composers, its servicemen and servicewomen. People picnicked, ate hot dogs and hamburgers, and enjoyed the first weekend of summer. A good time was had by all.