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 On Thursday evening, July 3rd, our small town will celebrate Independence Day in a big way with the Claflin Hill Summer Winds at Milford's Plains Park. Put on your red, white and blue, pack up the family and a picnic, bring your chairs and blankets, and settle in for a delightful summer's evening of entertainment. As festivities begin, Prizm the Clown and Charlie Chaplin will interact with the crowd, and face painters will be ready for the kids, with brushes in hand, under the Claflin Hill tent!  

 

Beginning at 5:00 pm, the smooth sounds of John Burrows and the Copacabana Band will drift across the Park, putting everyone in "party mode." Kick off your shoes and join us as we take the trip into the world of acoustic- based, Caribbean-spiced, countrified rock music! What you'll be hearing is music that might result if Jimmy Buffet jammed with Gordon Lightfoot and Clint Black on a Caribbean island beach!  Party!

Burrows' first movie score won a Golden Eagle award at the Atlanta Film Festival and he is familiar to many of us through his writing and recording of many popular commercials, as well as his acclaimed CD, The Perfect Storm.  As an off-shore sailboat captain (with a near death offshore survival experience) and mountain climber, he manages to bring his first-hand immersion of both the ocean and mountains to his lyrics and music.

At 8:15, the Claflin Hill Summer Winds, joined by members of The New World Chorale and The Charles River Chorale,  will take center stage!  A special performance will be given in tribute to our "Greatest Generation." A World-War II style USO music set will be performed by Howard Wilcox, bass, Richard Grenier, baritone, Art LaMan, tenor, Jeanne Sevigny, alto, Karen Wilcox, mezzo soprano, and Jane Circle, soprano. Some of the great classics you'll be hearing are: Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, I've Got a Girl in Kalamazoo, Blue Moon, Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree, Chatanooga Choo-Choo, and Perfidia. Also on the program will be music from Les Miserables, and many more surprises!

As the brilliant fireworks are being shot over Milford Pond, the Claflin Hill Summer Winds will accompany the pyrotechnics with Tchaikovvsky's '1812 Overture,' and a selection of patriotic favorites, including America the Beautiful.  The CHSW will end the evening with America's favorite, Stars & Stripes Forever -- always a crowd pleaser! 

 

Don't miss this special celebration of our Independence, all being brought to your doorstep by The Milford National Bank & Trust Company.

 

When you see the folks from The Milford National Bank & Trust Company at the Park on Thursday night, please be sure to give them your thanks for providing the funding for this great celebration, which is free to the public!  

 

"There is no better place to be than Plains Park for the Independence Day Spectacular!"  

 

We look forward to seeing you on the 3rd of July! 

 

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On Saturday evening, July 5th, The Claflin Hill Summer Winds will do a repeat performance at Daniels Farm in Blackstone. This concert will also include the New World and Charles River Chorales. Historic Daniels Farm is, in a word, gorgeous. What a treat to have this fantastic venue in our region! The CHSW is happy to be a part of this celebration for the third year in a row!     Again, pack everything and everyone up, and come on down to the farm for a wonderful evening of friendship, community and the best music in the land! 

 

This concert is sponsored by International Power of Blackstone, and we thank them for making this evening possible and free to the public!  

See you on the 5th at Daniels Farm!

 

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Family Night at the Bandstand's  "Gala Opening Night"  Now Just a Memory!

In spite of thunder, lighting, and the deluge of rain that fell from the skies of Milford Tuesday night, hard-core FNAB fans enjoyed the smooth sounds of The Claflin Hill Summer Winds for Family Night's season opener.  Paul Surapine made the call that the show would go on at 4:00 ~ he'd been watching the weather radar all day. By 4:15, the musicians were heading to Milford. Surapine's cell phone began to ring... "I'm in Grafton, coming down 495 and it's pouring! Are we still on?" "Yes, yes... just come. It's not raining here," said Surapine. He got that same call several times! At 4:45 a vast dark cloud was looming toward Milford. Rumbles were heard in the distance. I called Paul..."Hey, are you going ahead with this concert?" "Yes," he said... "I'm here at the bandstand setting up. It'll be fine -- don't worry." As I spoke with him, I was looking out the back door into the yard. Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightening flashed before me, and a clap of thunder quickly followed. Yikes! At 5:00, the heavens opened up. I had to close all the windows in the house-- the drops were ripping through the screens. I watched as the rain poured down the hill for a half hour. By 5:30 there was a sweet, soft rain that ended by 5:45. The dark cloud was heading south, toward Bellingham.

 

By 6:00, WMRC, The Milford Parks Department, and Claflin Hill had their tents set up. One by one, audience members began strolling down the path to the park. Prizm the Clown was making new friends. Nelly's Sandwich Shop had burgers and dogs cooking on the grill. At the 6:30 downbeat, the sun was shining at Town Park. Bernadette was looking for a rainbow. Mark DeCampo dazzled the audience with our National Anthem, and Family Night at the Bandstand, Season 13, was underway!

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Monica Hatch Sings to a Sell-out Crowd at the Grafton Inn!

 

A Summer Evening of Jazz was hot, hot, hot!
 

 

 

Apple Tree Arts hosted "A Summer Evening of Jazz" last Saturday evening with two performances by the incomparable vocalist Monica Hatch accompanied by jazz guitarist Mitch Seidman and bassist Bob Simonelli. What a nice surprise, to see the upper floor of the old Grafton Inn filled to capacity with jazz lovers! This was a five-star performance -- another testament to the fact that we have world-class talent right here in our own neighborhoods!  Ms. Hatch mesmerized listeners with her renditions of summer songs from the Great American Songbook mixed with Bossa Nova classics. Her wit and charming personality added to the experience. I think you'll be seeing much more of Monica Hatch in the near future!

Monica is a voice faculty member of Apple Tree Arts, the non-profit community music and theater arts school, which Claflin Hill partnered with during the 2007-2008 academic year. 

Mitch Seidman has been a professional musician for 35 years and is a professor at Berklee College of Music. He has made numerous recordings with many renowned jazz musicians as well as solo CDs. Mr. Seidman teaches jazz guitar for Apple Tree Arts and produced this year's music program for the Grafton Fine Arts & Music Festival.

 

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The Claflin Hill Symphony Summer Winds ~ "On the Road" Outreach Concerts

 

 

5 July (Saturday) at 7:30 pm

Daniels Farm

Blackstone

 

A repeat performance of the 3rd of July Program in Blackstone -- no fireworks though!

 

16 July (Wednesday) at 7:00 pm

Grafton Common

Grafton

 

23 July (Wednesday) at 7:15 pm

The Willows

Westboro

 

27 July (Sunday) at 3:30 pm

Riverbend Farm

Uxbridge

 

4 August (Monday) at 7:00 pm

Choate Park

Medway

 

6 August (Wednesday) at 6:30 pm

Bellingham Town Common

Bellingham

 

10 August (Sunday) at 6:00 pm

Holden Town Common

Holden