LOCATION/TIME CHANGE: Free concert tonight by 42nd Infantry Division Band moved to 7 in Hicksville

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42nd Infantry Division Band

HICKSVILLE (08/11/2015)(readMedia)-- LOCATION/TIME CHANGE: The New York Army National Guard 's 42nd Infantry Division Band will play a free concert tonight in Hicksville at 7:00 PM Aug. 11th in the Broadway Mall rather than Eisenhower Park due to rain. The performance is scheduled 1/2 hour earlier than previously, now scheduled at 7:00 p.m.

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 concert

WHEN: now at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday August 11, 2015

WHERE: Eisenhower Park in East Meadow now at Broadway Mall, Hicksville

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. 7:00 p.m. in a free concert at Broadway Mall, Hicksville, 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. While the program selections vary slightly with venue, possible titles include: "Star Trek: Into the Darkness", "A Disney Spectacular", "American Soldier", and the "Ultimate Patriotic Sing Along".

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. The "Rainbow" name was coined by Colonel Douglas MacArthur.

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