One week after the Bastille Day tragedy in Nice, France, Broadway musicians and other NYC professional musicians gathered to play French anthems in Times Square. On Thursday, July 21 under the George M. Cohan statue, over 50 brass musicians currently performing on Broadway and elsewhere in NYC played in an event organized by Broadway trumpeter Dominic Derasse with the support of the Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802, AFM. Derasse hails from Nice and is currently playing in An American in Paris. At the free event, Anton Coppola conducted the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” arranged for brass choir by Charles Porter, and Derasse conducted “Nissa La Bella,” the hymn of the city of Nice, arranged by Bob Christianson. “This event is a tribute to the people of Nice and France, to let them know that there are people across the world who are not only thinking of them, but who want to express their support in their time of grief,” said Derasse. “ ‘La Marseillaise’ and ‘Nissa La Bella’ seemed like the best way for the musicians of New York to do exactly that.”
Posted July 25, 2016
