Free concert on Tuesday Aug 11 at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow

EAST MEADOW, NY (08/06/2015)(readMedia)-- THE NEW YORK ARMY National Guard 's 42nd Infantry Division Band will play a free concert Tuesday at 7:30 PM in Eisenhower Park in East Meadow. Performances are part of the band's annual training tour, when the band plays across the state.

WHO: New York Army National Guard "Rainbow Division" bandmembers and music fans

WHAT: FREE outdoor evening concert

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday August 11, 2015

WHERE: Eisenhower Park in East Meadow

CONTACT: Sgt. 1st Class Becky Rapp (914) 944-6552, becky.rapp@us.army.mil

Bandmembers of the famed "Rainbow Division" 42nd Infantry appear Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. in a free concert at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, Nassau County. The concert tour, conducted as part of annual training, delivers music spanning and connecting generations. With the expected military traditional and classical music, the band's range covers baroque to pop and jazz, to the newest "Three Day Pass" rock band featuring punk, ska and garage rock.

Background:

The "Rainbow Division" Band has a long history, playing for troops in World War I when the nickname "Rainbow" Division was adopted within the 42nd Infantry. Music is broad and varied, with multiple groups performing. Classical music, marches, patriotic selections, jazz, rock and popular music are all within the band's repertoire. Many musicians capably play more than one instrument. The band has historically played and performed wherever needed, whether as musicians for morale, stretcher bearers in care of wounded or as security more recently in Tikrit, Iraq. "Stretching across America like a rainbow" was a geographical reference for a group whose widely spread origins across the country came together proudly in a unit of precision and inclusion.

Today all members of the band train and maintain fitness on the same weapons and combat skills that all Soldiers learn, additionally practicing music. Members of New York's Army National Guard since 1947, the band deployed in 2005 to Iraq as part of the 42nd Infantry's Division headquarters. Band members played at ceremonies, in dining halls, for Iraqi officials and sometimes alongside Iraqi musicians.

The 42nd Infantry Division Band is under the command of Chief Warrant Officer Mark L. Kimes and 1st Sergeant Leslie G. Saroka.

Performances farther upstate in August include:

• August 13th Lake George's Shepard Park

• August 14th Saratoga Race Course

• August 15th New Windsor at the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor

For more information contact Sgt. 1st Class Becky Rapp (914) 944-6552 or e-mail: becky.rapp@us.army.mil