Submitted photo The W.D. Packard Concert Band will play its annual 4th of July Spectacular! on Tuesday on the grounds of Packard Music Hall.

WARREN — The W.D. Packard Concert Band will play the world premiere of a new work at its 4th of July Spectacular!

The band commissioned Jerry Ascione to compose “Our Music, Our Strength.” The new work will replaces Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” as the penultimate song in the holiday program.

Thomas Groth, executive director of the band, said they decided to drop Tchaikovsky piece because a war song by a Russian composer felt less appropriate for a 4th of July concert following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This is the fourth work the Packard band has commissioned from Ascione, and it also has performed several of his arrangements.

“He’s a fantastic musician, and his compositions are so meticulous,” Groth said. “He knows most of the guys in the band and Jerry doesn’t have to worry about what he writes. He knows this band can play it. The band definitely looks forward to getting his charts.”

Groth said that when he calls Ascione at his home in Maryland, he’ll jokingly ask for “Sammy,” a reference to legendary jazz composer Sammy Nestico.

“They say he never wrote a bad piece of music, and you can say the same thing about Jerry,” Groth said.

Ascione is a 1975 Dana School of Music graduate and a 31-year veteran of the U.S. Navy. During his time in the Navy, he played French horn with the U.S. Naval Academy Band and was pianist for the Navy’s premiere jazz ensemble, the Commodores. He created many of the arrangements still used by the Commodores, and his music also was played by Army, Air Force and Marine Corps bands.

Ascione will conduct the premiere performance of “Our Music, Our Strength.” The rest of the concert will be led by Frank Tracz, professor of music and director of bands at Kansas State University and a frequent guest conductor with the Packard band.

KSU recently dedicated its new band space to the director, naming it the Tracz Family Band Hall. Tracz earned his bachelor’s degree and doctorate from The Ohio State University and his master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin.

“He’s sort of like the ultimate professional band conductor,” Groth said. “He knows exactly what he has to do in the amount of time he has … He’s a great conductor and a great human being.”

Another familiar face — and voice — returning for the concert is vocalist Helen Welch, who often performs with the full band as well as the Big Band Sound of Packard. She will sing “Strike Up the Band,” “The House I Live In,” “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart,” “On a Wonderful Day Like Today,” “My Foolish Heart” and “I’m Gonna Live ‘Til I Die.”

Other selections will include Thomas Knox’s “American Pageant,” Henry Fillmore’s “Americans We” march, Karl L. King’s “International Peace” march, Austin Lara’s “Granada,” Toshio Sakamoto’s “Blues for a Cat Called Misty,” Andy Clark’s arrangement of “The Woodwind Polka,” Vernon Duke’s “April in Paris,” an Armed Forces salute and John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” march.

The concert will last about 90 minutes and will be followed by a fireworks display by Zambelli Fireworks Internationale. Both the concert and fireworks are paid for with funding provided by the W.D. Packard trust.

If you go …

WHAT: 4th of July Spectacular! featuring the W.D. Packard Concert Band with Frank Tracz, guest conductor; Jerry Ascione, composer and guest conductor; Helen Welch, vocalist and Thomas Groth, concert moderator, and followed by fireworks

WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday

WHERE: South lawn bandshell of Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren

HOW MUCH: Admission is free, and funding for the concerts and the fireworks comes from the W.D. Packard trust.