SIDNEY — The Sidney Civic Band summer concert season continues at courthouse square in downtown Sidney on Friday, June 23, 2023 with a performance by the Swing Era Band.
Created in 1975 by Andrew “Bud” Ledwith of Sidney, the Swing Era Band specializes in keeping the unique sounds of the noted swing bands alive. This 16-piece group features some of the finest musicians in western Ohio, performing a variety of big band and jazz arrangements by notable composers like Woody Herman, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller and others. The band features popular songs from the 1930s to the 1970s, specially arranged to capture the swing era sound.
Friday’s concert will feature guest vocalist Kelly Virgin-Ginn who is making her debut with the Swing Era Band. Originally from eastern Kentucky, Virgin-Ginn began taking piano lessons at age five. She was teaching piano while still in high school and went on to receive a degree in Music Education from Morehead State University. While in college, she taught at the Morehead Academy of Arts. She then moved to Ohio and taught at the Lebanon City Schools before taking a break from teaching to start a family. Virgin-Ginn is also a lifelong singer, participating in ensembles and musicals throughout high school and college.
Virgin-Ginn has now returned to music as an accompanist at One Community Church in Monroe, Ohio, and is ready to take her place behind the mic again, sharing her vocal stylings with a fresh, new vision, colored by her past influences from rock to country, gospel to soul, and classical to jazz.
The concert begins at 7 p.m. on the square. There will be the traditional Spot pie drawing and concessions offered by the Relay for Life team from Connection Point Church of God. In case of inclement weather, the concert will be held at the Connection Point Church of God. For weather updates, check the band’s Facebook page.
