ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The city is making changes to its sponsored concerts at West Park this summer and some residents are upset about the plans.
Under the city plan, the Marine Band, Municipal Band, Pioneer Band, Allentown Band, and Royalaires each will perform four concerts instead of six, with one of those performances outside of West Park.
It's a potential decrease of up to 15 performances in West Park.
- The five city-sponsored bands will perform four concerts each this summer instead of six
- One of those four concerts will be played outside of West Park
- Some musicians and residents are unhappy with what they see as a change in tradition
The park's giant bandshell has stood since 1908 and is a symbol of Allentown's status as “Band City USA.” City-sponsored bands have a long history. The Allentown Band is the oldest civilian band in the U.S., consistently in existence since its first documented performance in 1828, according to its website.
Jean Rohal is the secretary of the Marine Band. Speaking for herself and not the band, she said she and others see the bandshell concerts as a community asset.
“Yes, they’re old-timey, they are old-fashioned,” she said. “But when you play in a Victorian park, it’s just a pleasure to be playing these tunes out here and just imagining that it’s 1900 and so I hate to see that tradition go.”
Reaching new audiences
According to members of the Lehigh Valley Musicians' Association, the performances are expected to be held on Fridays and Sundays, instead of Friday through Sunday like last year. No concerts are planned for September, they said.
The city wants the bands to perform at least one of their concerts at a neighborhood venue instead of West Park.
Genesis Ortega, Allentown's communications manager, said the decision to reduce the number of concerts was made as a way to create more community involvement, include more bands, and reach more into the neighborhoods.
Rohal said she was told the changes were being made at the behest of Mayor Matt Tuerk because he wanted to put more focus on the city’s youth and other cultures represented in the city’s growing population.
Ortega disputed that characterization of a conversation between members of the Allentown Band and Recreation Program Specialist Chris Hendricks as “hearsay and gossip.” Allentown Band Conductor Ronald Demkee did not return calls requesting comment.
“He probably believes it’s the same old, same old at West Park. “He likes to change things. He’s young and he likes to try different things.”Allentown City Councilwoman Candida Affa
“We’re really excited for the summer concert series,” Ortega said. “We’re excited to involve the Allentown Band. We’re excited to involve more bands in the lineup. I feel like that’s really the story.”
A change from tradition
Allentown City Councilwoman Candida Affa said she believes Tuerk wants more diversity in the city.
“He probably believes it’s the same old, same old at West Park,” she said. “He likes to change things. He’s young and he likes to try different things.”
Rohal said the concerts in West Park draw hundreds of mostly older people who like to come on Sunday evenings. She said they play a mix of everything, including classical, pop and jazz.
“West Park is a treasure in west Allentown,” she said. “It is a passive park. Lots of ancient old trees and it has a post-Victorian bandshell, which has wonderful, wonderful acoustics.”
Rohal said playing concerts at neighborhood spots instead of West Park doesn't make sense to her because the attendance at past shows averaged from three people to 13 even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There are certain neighborhoods I’m not going to go into to play,” she said. “I carry thousands and thousands of dollars worth of instruments and supplies with me to these concerts and I’m not willing to have to walk to my car and potentially lose them.”
Timing of shows
Affa said there may be benefits in holding some of the concerts outside West Park, such as somewhere downtown where it would be easier to park and walk to an event.
Matt Cascioli, secretary and treasurer for the Lehigh Valley Musicians' Association, said his understanding from the city is the changes are happening and everything except the schedule of concerts is complete. He declined to comment on the reduction in the number of concerts.
Cascioli said doing neighborhood concerts and holding the concerts on Fridays and Sundays is something the bands have done in the past. He said the city had agreed to move the Sunday concerts to 7 p.m instead of holding them in the afternoons, as had previously been proposed.
“Which was what our suggestion was all along because the elderly people who come like to get out of there while it’s still light so they’ll have daylight to exit the park from,” Cascioli said.
The city's Ortega said none of the details are finalized, including what days or times the bands will play. Rohal said unless they're in May or September, afternoon concerts in the summer are too hot for the audience and band members, especially for the older participants in the park.
“The trees in the mid-to-late afternoon do not shield the audience, they don’t provide shade,” Rohal said. “And the bandshell is like an oven.”
Scott Armstrong, a member of the West Park Civic Association and a former Allentown School Board member, said he is upset about the changes to the traditional concerts.
“Allentown has always been ‘The Band City’ and West Park was designed not only as a passive park but as the park where the great Allentown Band would perform,” he said.
Ortega said plans are to publicly release the schedule in the spring after details are finalized.
