Special to the Journal
Music Director Robert Lehmann and the North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra return to St. Anthony’s Church Sunday December 15 for the annual Robert A. Marra Memorial “Sounds of Christmas” Concert. The concert gets underway at 4 p.m.
?As has been the tradition since 1990, the concert’s private sponsorship makes admission to the concert free for all, but everyone attending the concert is asked to bring a generous donation of non-perishable food to benefit the Revere Food Pantry.
?The concert is sponsored by Revere’s Bocchino Insurance Company, Massport, NeighborHealth (formerly East Boston Neighborhood Health Center), Xfinity, Astound Broadband, and Action Emergency Services.
North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra president and concert co-chair Robert Marra Jr. praised the sponsors for their continued support. “Year after year, the sponsors make sure this concert is part of our city’s holiday celebration, in both the Orchestra’s performance, but also with the Food Drive.”
Concert co-chair Dom Bocchino, president of Bocchino Insurance, praised his fellow sponsors. “This is a way for businesses to be a much larger member of the community,” said Bocchino, who took on a sponsorship role in 2006. “The chance to bring the Orchestra to Revere, and then turn that into a huge food drive, is an inspiration,” he said.
Marra also emphasized the food drive that is associated with the concert that is named in his father’s memory. “Of course, we all love the music and the holiday excitement that comes with the concert, but the food drive makes it special because it exemplifies the true meaning of the holidays, the sense of sharing and helping others,” he said. “When the people who come to the concert fill up the hundreds of boxes with food, it magnifies the generosity of the businesses that sponsor the concert.” The concert annually raises nearly three tons of food that is donated and distributed through the Revere Food Pantry at the First Congregational Church.
“We have members of the St. Anthony’s Holy Name Society, the church’s Faith Formation students, and members of the Revere High football team who all volunteer to pack the food and load it into a truck provided by Mike Zaccaria at Action Emergency Services,” said Bocchino. “It’s real community teamwork.”
The annual “Sounds of Christmas” concert tradition dates to 1976 when North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra played a holiday concert at Revere High School as part of the city’s celebration of the nation’s bicentennial. The concert moved to St. Anthony’s sanctuary the following year. “The concert was a tremendous success right from the start. Every year someone tells me how this concert has been part of their family tradition for so many years.”
In addition to the musical part of the program, the concert features an original essay written and narrated by a Revere High School student. “We started this in 2016 and it has been very well-received,” said Marra. “It’s a chance to have a student’s voice deliver a meaningful message. And it ties Revere High to the concert, something my father would appreciate.” This year’s concert will feature RHS senior Sarah Bruno.
The concert is named in memory of violinist Robert A. Marra, a lifelong Revere resident and teacher at Revere High School who was concertmaster of the Orchestra for over 50 years before his death in 2002.
The audience that packs St. Anthony’s is as much a joy for the Orchestra as the concert is for the patrons. Marra noted that “At this time of year, musicians can be pretty busy, and it is demanding work, but they all love coming to Revere where the audience is so attentive and enthusiastic.”?
