FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Susannah Wells, Head of School
s.wells@pinecobble.org
(413) 458-4680
George Gee Swing Orchestra to play at Pine Cobble School’s 75th Anniversary Celebration
New York City’s favorite swing band to play at May 5th event
WILLIAMSTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, February 6, 2012. Pine Cobble School is thrilled to announce that the George Gee Swing Orchestra, New York City’s most popular swing band, will play at the school’s May 5th Founders’ Day celebration.
The event will be held in honor of the school’s 75th anniversary. The milestone occasion calls for the largest celebration the school has had in its history.
From Lincoln Center to 163 Gale Road: the George Gee Swing Orchestra
“We’re thrilled to welcome George Gee and his 12-piece swing orchestra,” said Joe Finnegan, chairman of Pine Cobble’s board of trustees. “Pine Cobble School has remained true to its mission for three quarters of a century. That’s a good reason for a great party, and George Gee brings the stunning, high-energy music that will have us all on our feet.”
The George Gee Swing Orchestra is widely renowned as the “swingin’-est, blowin’-est, hepp-est classic big band in New York City.” George Gee has headlined the renowned Midsummer Night Swing festival at Lincoln Center, and has played on a double-bill with the Count Basie Orchestra — yes, that Count Basie Orchestra — before a crowd of 15,000 fans. George Gee takes special pride in its ranking as the #1 swing dance band by legendary Savoy dancers like Frankie Manning and Dawn Hampton. The George Gee Swing Orchestra was the first big band to play on MTV; they were spotlighted on Entertainment Tonight Live With Regis & Kathie Lee; and they performed for 11 million viewers on “Live from Lincoln Center” on PBS Television. When rocker Ozzy Osbourne threw a 50th birthday bash in Beverley Hills, he flew in George Gee and his musicians to perform for the event.
Pine Cobble’s Founders’ Day remembers Doris and Edgar Flinton, who in 1937 founded a school with the vision of fostered in children a deep love of learning, one that held all students to the highest academic and personal standards.
“The Flintons’ founding vision is alive and thriving today,” said Susannah Wells, Pine Cobble’s head of school. “At Pine Cobble, we bring out the best in students – as scholars, as athletes, and as human beings with integrity. It takes time, it takes dedication, and it takes a kind of flexibility that’s rarely offered to children in today’s world. But as we do these things, we form a powerful community in which kids feel empowered to be their best.”
“It’s just such a special place,” she added. “May 5th will be all about celebrating that.”
Pine Cobble is a coeducational day school founded in 1937. Nestled in a beautiful setting originally designed as an estate by Olmsted Associates, Pine Cobble supports intellectual rigor, curiosity, and creativity within a caring community. A fundamental tenet of the Pine Cobble experience is character education; nine character pillars — compassion, gratitude, respect, honesty, responsibility, patience, self-control, courage, and cooperation are woven into every aspect of the students’ lives. The School currently serves 122 students, ages two-years-nine-months through ninth grade, from Berkshire County, southern Vermont, and eastern New York.
Invitations to the event will be mailed in the early spring.