MetWinds Band Concert: "Riffs" Featuring Joe McCarthy, Latin Grammy Award-Winning Percussionist

MetWinds Welcomes Joe McCarthy, Latin Grammy Award-Winning Percussionist for Fall Band Concert, “Riffs”

MetWinds begins its 54th season with a concert on Sunday, November 3, 2024 at 3:00 PM, at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum, 33 Marrett Road, Lexington, MA. There is also a pre-concert lecture at 2:30 PM inside the concert hall. 

Latin Grammy award-winning percussionist, Joe McCarthy, is guest soloist, premiering the Wind Ensemble version of his Pan-American Nutcracker Suite; a global musical adventure that celebrates and unites Tchaikovsky’s timeless masterpiece “The Nutcracker Suite,” with the beautifully diverse musical traditions of the Americas and beyond! Joe is also the featured soloist for Jeff Tyzik’s Riffs, which turns the MetWinds into a huge jazz ensemble with the jazz soloist leading the way. Other concert highlights include Norman Dello Joio’s classic work for band, Variants on a Medieval Tune, movements from Handel’s classic, Music for the Royal Fireworks, and Forged in Fire by Mark Watters. You won’t want to miss this concert!

Joe McCarthy has led a diverse career as a drummer/percussionist, bandleader, producer, and educator in a myriad of settings from symphony orchestra to bebop, big band, Afro-Cuban, theater, and beyond. As a Latin Grammy award-winning and Grammy nominated drummer, and bandleader of the New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band, Joe proudly endorses Zildjian, Yamaha, Remo, Latin Percussion, and Vic Firth, featuring his signature drumstick in the Modern Jazz Collection Series MJC2. 

Richard E. Wyman, MetWinds Music Director is the former Assistant Director of the United States Coast Guard Band, where he regularly conducted throughout the United States and abroad in concert tours of Japan and Taiwan, and led the Band’s educational initiatives.. He is currently the Executive Director of the Community Music School in Centerbrook, CT. Wyman has enjoyed working with musicians of all ages, regularly appearing as clinician and guest conductor with a variety of ensembles. Wyman is also an accomplished saxophonist, having earned two year-long residency grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and also performing multiple times at the White House and appearing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Mark Olson, MetWinds Assistant Conductor is the current Director of Harvard Band and Wind Ensemble, where he conducts the Harvard Wind Ensemble, serves as an advisor to the Harvard University BAnd, and administers all aspects of the band program at Harvard. Olson also is the Director of the Middlesex Concert Band and the New England Brass Band. An active trumpet performer and soloist, he currently plays trumpet in the MetWinds and The Tarnished Brass. 

Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, $5 for students, and are free for children under 5. They are available at the door. Tickets can also be purchased online: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/metwinds-fall-2024-concert-riffs-tickets-1012185503087

MetWinds also participates in the Card to Culture program, a collaboration between the Mass Cultural Council and the Department of Transitional Assistance, the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program, and the Massachusetts Health Connector, by broadening accessibility to cultural programming.

Massachusetts EBT and WIC cardholders can show their EBT or WIC card at MetWinds indoor Lexington concerts to pay only $2 per adult or $1 per child (age 6+). Children under age 6 are free. There is no admission limit per cardholder. We cannot process EBT or WIC transactions; cash or other payment must be provided for admission.  

Visit the MetWinds web page at https://www.metwinds.org or call the MetWinds Concert Line at (978) 419-1697 for more information. Email mws@mws-boston.org with any questions.

Founded by Jerry Gardner in 1971, the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, a concert band, is currently celebrating its 54th anniversary. The MetWinds comprises over 70 talented woodwind, brass, and percussion instrumentalists who audition for membership and seating. It makes a significant contribution to the cultural life of the Greater Boston community by providing its audiences with high quality concerts and its members with opportunities for musical growth.

This and other concerts by the MetWinds are funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.