Long Beach to dedicate Conductor Larry Curtis Concert Park

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Long Beach volition officially dedicate a conception of Marine Stadium aft longtime Municipal Band person Larry Curtis connected Saturday morning, Oct. 30.

The ceremonial volition unveil a motion marking Conductor Larry Curtis Concert Park and diagnostic a Dixieland-style show by immoderate of the Long Beach Municipal Band’s members.

The set regularly plays determination implicit the summer.

“The Long Beach Municipal Band is an important portion of our city’s committedness to arts and culture,” Mayor Robert Garcia said successful a statement. “It’s fitting that a conception of Marine Stadium is being named for the precocious Mr. Larry Curtis, a idiosyncratic who agelong played specified an important relation successful bringing euphony to our parks and greater community.”

Curtis, known arsenic Long Beach’s “Music Man,” was the Municipal Band person for 27 years and conducted much than 700 concerts. He was besides the conductor of bands astatine Cal State Long Beach for 25 years.

He died successful June 2020 from an assertive benignant of gall bladder crab with which helium had been diagnosed 5 weeks prior. Curtis was 82.

“He infused truthful overmuch joyousness and amusive and enthusiasm into the community,” Councilwoman Suzie Price, who archetypal projected naming the performance parkland aft Curtis, said successful a statement. “Adding his sanction to this parkland abstraction is the cleanable mode to memorialize him.

“The astonishing assemblage enactment and emotion felt for Larry,” she added, “has made this naming a genuinely assemblage driven effort.”

Curtis’s son, Kurt Curtis, was tapped to pb the set earlier this year. The band’s 2020 play was canceled due to the fact that of the coronavirus pandemic, and the younger Curtis’ debut play was abbreviated to a two-week run.

A afloat slate is expected adjacent year.