The House We Live In: A Musical Celebration of America at 250

A jazz concert with Tony Nalker and Bob McDonald on Friday, September 16th at 6:30 pm.

Vocalist Bob McDonald (pictured singing with the US Army Band) will return to Woodbury on October 16th.

Jazz legends Tony Nalker, piano, and Bob McDonald, vocalist, and their friends will perform a benefit for St. Paul’s, with selections from the “Great American Songbook,” including well-known standards, Frank Sinatra, Broadway classics, patriotic favorites, and more.

“The House We Live In,” a concert at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Woodbury, in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the United States. The concert will be held on Friday, Oct. 16, at 7:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s, 294 Main Street South, in Woodbury.  It will be preceded by a reception and silent auction, at 6:30 p.m. in the church’s Parish Hall. Tickets are $30 ($20 for retired or active military).

Nalker and McDonald, both military veterans, have performed at The White House, the Super Bowl, the World Series, and around the country. Their concert will feature an ensemble of their musical friends, and follows a concert at St. Paul’s last year that was “wildly wonderful and a huge hit,” according to the Very Rev. Tuesday Rupp, Rector at St. Paul’s.

“Tony, Bob, and friends had a concert here at St. Paul’s last year, and we are just thrilled to have them return, as we celebrate America’s anniversary,”  she said. “And this great music is a just wonderful way to celebrate as America, ‘The House We Live In,’ turns 250 years old!”

“Last year, ‘the joint was jumpin!’ and we expect nothing less for this wonderful celebration of our great nation,” she added.

Tony performs widely and currently serves as jazz pianist with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra Pops.  From 1989-2016, Tony was the pianist of the premiere jazz ensemble of the U.S. Army, the Army Blues, and served as the group's enlisted leader.  He has played for the highest levels of the U.S. government and military and performed on USO tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as State Department-sponsored musical diplomacy tours to Russia, Kenya, and Ethiopia.