42nd Infantry Division Army National Guard Band 2018 tour Begins this week Performances scheduled in nine communities across the state

CAMP SMITH TRAINING SITE, CORTLANDT MANOR, NY (08/01/2018) (readMedia)-- The New York Army National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division Band kicks off their summer annual training concert tour with a free concert at the Patterson Recreation Center in Patterson, N.Y. this Thursday, August 2, at 7 p.m.

Bandmembers of the famed "Rainbow Division" 42nd Infantry appear in communities across New York State this summer. The concert tour, conducted as part of the unit's 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 and includes a tribute to the unit's centennial of service as part of the 42nd Division that served in World War I.

All concerts are FREE, open to the public, and NO ticket is required.

WHO: New York Army National Guard "Rainbow Division" band members and music fans.

WHAT: A free performance that begins the 42nd Infantry Division Band's annual training summer concert tour

WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday, August 2, 2018

WHERE: Patterson Recreation Center in Patterson, N.Y.

Media Opportunity: Video and imagery of military members of the 42nd Infantry Division Band performing for the public. Interviews with band members may be available up to 30 minutes prior to the unit performance. For details about linkup location or interviews prior to performances, contact Staff Sgt. Christopher Smalls, christopher.c.smalls.mil@mail.mil or (914) 944-6552 for media availabilities.

The band's summer tour will also take them to the plaza at the United Nations for a performance on Friday, August 10.

Performances will include a tribute to the World War I centennial, marking the mobilization and deployment of thousands of New York National Guard Soldiers in 1917 for service in France. The band will perform musical selections from that era as part of the unit's commemoration of the creation of the 42nd Infantry Division in August 1917.

Background:

The "Rainbow Division" Band has a long history, first playing for troops in World War I when the nickname "Rainbow" Division was adopted within the 42nd Infantry.

The unit's 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.

Today, 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, based at the Camp Smith Training Site near Peekskill, is under the command of Chief Warrant Officer 3 Mark L. Kimes and 1st Sergeant Leslie G. Saroka.

Upcoming performances this summer include:

• Friday, August 3 at the Smith Center for the Arts in Geneva at 7:30 p.m.

• Saturday, August 4 at Long Branch Park in Syracuse at 11 a.m.

• Sunday, August 5 at the Maxion Stage in Canandaigua at 1 p.m.

• Tuesday, August 7 at the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook at 7 p.m.

• Wednesday, August 8 at Camp Anchor on Lido Beach at 11 a.m.

• Thursday, August 9 at Fort Wadsworth, 210 New York Ave, on Staten Island at 7 p.m.

• Friday, August 10, at the United Nations Plaza at 1 p.m.

• Saturday, August 11 at the Sayville Summer Fest in Sayville at 11:30 a.m.

For more information contact Staff Sgt. Christopher Smalls, christopher.c.smalls.mil@mail.mil or (914) 944-6552.