A Golden Circus Fantasy

Due to Vista Center scheduling issues, the band’s concerts will start one-hour later this season, Sundays at 4:00 p.m. Doors open at 3:00 p.m. Admission to all Arizona Winds concerts is free, no tickets required.  Invite your friends and be a part of something really special!

The Arizona Winds celebrates a significant milestone during its upcoming 2024-2025 concert season. This October will mark 50 years of music-making throughout Arizona and the Southwest for this popular West Valley-based community concert band. During its Golden Anniversary season, the band will reprise favorite selections performed over the decades, provide pre-concert music in the lobby to welcome its audience, and offer a host of “surprises and treats” to recognize this very special year.

The band’s “Golden” season kicks off on Sunday, October 13th at the Vista Center for the Arts in Surprise (4:00 p.m.), with a festive “Golden Circus Fantasy”. Hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, the circus is coming to town—musically speaking that is! This old-style “circus”, reminiscent of the P.T. Barnum three-ring circus, opens with the circus parade and everyone’s favorite circus march, Thunder and Blazes (Entry of the Gladiators). Next, guests will be escorted, musically, through the menagerie, the circus’ collection of wild and exotic animals on display for everyone’s amazement.

The Arizona Winds “circus band” will take the center ring for a short concert that will include Karl King’s Center Ring Circus March, Henry Filmore’s Lassus Trombones, and as a special treat, the Arizona Winds will premiere a work commissioned for the band’s Golden Anniversary season opener. The work, titled A Day at the Circus, was written for this occasion by Dr. Spencer Arias, currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory at Arizona State University and the son of the band’s immediate past president, Abbe Arias.

Then on to the “Big Show” where everyone’s attention will be glued to all three rings as the lions, horses, elephants, high-wire act and clowns musically dazzle young and old alike. And of course, there will be a “Grand Finale” featuring Karl King’s ever popular Barnum & Bailey’s Favorites March. This is a concert you won’t want to miss, and you’ll want to bring the kids, grandkids and greats!