Atlanta Freedom Bands

Our AFB Members want you to jump on the voting bandwagon! You still have two days to join our Concert Band in the early voting symphony. If you haven't mailed your absentee ballot, our MetroGnomes want you to swing by one of your county's ballot drop boxes. And, you can line up with our Marching Band and step into your precinct on Tuesday. Once you have voted, join our Color Guard and spin, twirl, and strut your way down the street knowing you did your part! Go vote!

Atlanta Freedom Bands began its Student Composer Residency Program in 2016 to highlight talented local young composers and bring our audiences tomorrow's composers today. At our December 2019 concert, we were honored to introduce you to Kyle Green and present the premiere of his new work "The Sacred Pipe". Bandworld Magazine just selected it as a "Top 100" piece for 2020! The piece sets to music the Cherokee story of the Arrow Woman as she traverses a physical and personal journey to discover the Sacred Pipe of the Creator. Congratulations Kyle and thank you for such a wonderful piece of music.

Happy Atlanta Pride! The Atlanta Pride Parade is always the highlight of our year. Performing for our beautiful rainbow community, dressed in our uniforms, spinning our flags, and playing our tunes, is always an amazing experience. Since we cannot strut our way down Peachtree Street this year, we thought we would share some AFB memories from Pride Parades past. We hope you enjoy the photos, and if you want to join us, just visit our website. www.atlantafreedombands.com

Happy 50th Atlanta Pride, everyone! We join with our LGBTQ+ community celebrating a half century of progress toward equality here in our home town. We are so grateful to the Atlanta Pride Committee for their decades of work in continuing to produce the festival and parade through years of sun and rain and especially through years when our community was not welcome to express itself publicly. Congratulations on this great anniversary, and we look forward to celebrating 50 p...lus 1 in person with even more excitement next year! On the Saturdays of the festival weekend, we always look forward to meeting you at our festival booth. We have such a great day meeting friends, fans, and great musicians who are interested in joining our AFB family. Take a look at some pictures from our festival booth from previous years. We are planning virtual activities and ensembles this fall, so if you would like to join us, just visit our website and click Join! www.atlantafreedombands.com

A year ago this weekend, we gathered with our friends from the Atlanta Women's Chorus, the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus, and OurSongThe Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chorus for "This is Me!", a musical celebration for Pride weekend. Since we couldn't gather again in person this year, our friends in AWC have prepared a video of last year's event to relive all the great music. The video premieres at 8 PM this evening, and is available anytime for later viewing. Put some great music into your Atlanta Pride celebrations as we watch "This is Me!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyNepDlStao

While we count down the days until the election this fall, you have an important civic duty to fulfill this month. Responding to the census is fast, easy, important, and has an effect on AFB. As you can see from the city's data at ATL Counts 2020, we have quite a way to go. Census numbers decide the apportionment and boundaries of legislative districts from the Congress to the City Council. AFB receives grant funding from sources such as the National Endowment for the Art...s, the Georgia Council for the Arts, Fulton County, and the City of Atlanta. Funds for the arts (and many other government functions ranging from healthcare to SNAP to transportation) are allocated by districts, so having accurate counts leads to better funding for your community for the next 10 years. Responding takes just a few minutes. Visit https://2020census.gov/ to start. See more

Join us tonight at 8 PM for a showcase of all the great talent in our LGBTQ+ performing arts groups across the city. We have music, movies, and more during this one-hour event, including a special tribute to the music of Motown by AFB! The video will stream from AFB's Facebook page. Clear out some space in the living room to welcome all these great performers to your home!

Pride isn't about a parade. It's about promoting Unity and Visibility. Some of our members along with members from other LGBA (Lesbian and Gay Band Association) bands, decided to celebrate Pride together by making a video doing what they love. Happy Pride!!!!

Join us **TONIGHT** for a radio broadcast of our 25th Anniversary Concert. We are the featured artists for this week's "Atlanta Music Scene" broadcasts on WABE FM 90.1 for the next two weeks. This week we will relive the excitement and joy from our June 2018 celebratory concert, which included many of the band's favorite pieces along with two world premieres. Tune in on Sunday night at 10 PM. You can also stream the broadcast from www.wabe.org, along with repeat broadcasts on WABE Classics on Tuesday at 3 PM and Saturday at 10 AM. We hope you enjoy all this great music from a truly wonderful night for our organization!

Join us this Sunday night for a radio broadcast of our 25th Anniversary Concert. We are the featured artists for this week's "Atlanta Music Scene" broadcasts on WABE FM 90.1 for the next two weeks. This week we will relive the excitement and joy from our June 2018 celebratory concert, which included many of the band's favorite pieces along with two world premieres. Tune in on Sunday night at 10 PM. You can also stream the broadcast from www.wabe.org, along with repeat broadcasts on WABE Classics on Tuesday at 3 PM and Saturday at 10 AM. We hope you enjoy all this great music from a truly wonderful night for our organization!

Atlanta Freedom Bands joins the chorus of lifted voices speaking out against systemic and institutionalized racism. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Black siblings, amplifying their voices, condemning in the strongest terms chronic police violence against unarmed Black Americans. We hold space for our Black trans* siblings - particularly our sisters - who are at disproportional risk of experiencing underemployment, poverty, and violence. This Pride month, we are remind...ed that 51 years ago, one of the most pivotal moments in the course of LGBTQ Liberation Movement was a riot. And that, indeed, it is possible for a movement to change the world. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. #blacklivesmatter