On Sunday, June 27th, from 6-9 pm, Sacramento’s Curtis Park will be filled with the sounds of frolicking children, laughing adults and fantastic music, as the Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association opens its annual Music in the Park. This free concert is part of the 2010 season of events of one of the busiest neighborhood associations in the state of California.

The event is the first in a series of three summertime concerts that provide Sacramento residents with a fun, relaxing evening of community and entertainment. This year’s season opener of Music in the Park will “go green,” as economically-conscious sponsors partner with Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association (SCNA) to help make the event possible.

Music in the Park leads off with entertainment by legendary children’s composer and performer, Ken Cooper. The creator of Songs That Teach, an original curriculum-based music program, “Mister Cooper” has been using music to teach life lessons and enhance learning for the past fourteen years. His musical talent and rapport with children have made him indispensable to schools and parents throughout Sacramento. Cooper’s music, as Christie Hamm of Belle Coolidge Library says, establishes “a connection with children long after the songs are over.”

During intermission, children will have the opportunity to compete in a hula hoop contest and visit kid-friendly displays, like the one that features Red Wigglers and Trout Worms, two mainstays of Sacramento's Worm Fancy.

Up next is evening headliner Blvd Park. Founded two years ago in the Midtown Sacramento neighborhood that has become its appellation, Blvd Park offers a unique blend of swing, gospel, R&B, folk, and rock. The band is the brainchild of Sacramentan Brian Ballentine, and its uptempo swing and lush ballads are performed on guitar, trumpet, double bass, violin, and sometimes banjo and snare drum. After strong critical reception of Bell Tower Mansion, its first album, the band is set to record its second, which is being produced by the Walkabouts’ Carla Torgerson. As the Monterey County Weekly said, "The bluesy sound of the Sacramento-based swingsters Blvd Park is aged well beyond the years of any of its eight members.”

The band has been delighting audiences throughout Northern California with a blend of hip swing and lyric soul that’s proven impossible to sit still for. As one of its members says, “We are in love with the art form of creating and performing music.” Blvd Park will share their love with all who attend the kick-off to this year’s Music in the Park.

A number of sponsors have joined SCNA to help make this event possible, including many who are community leaders in eco-friendly consciousness. Since 1946, SMUD has empowered its customers with solutions that increase energy efficiency, protect the environment, and reduce global warming. Premier natural food products company Kashi’s sponsorship reflects its mission to inspire healthy change in communities across the nation. Voted “Best in Sacramento” twice by Sacramento News & Review, It’s All Yoga provides students with inspiration and resources to promote well-being. Sham Sanghera is a personal trainer and nutritionist whose Inspired Wellness Boot Camp changes lives by enabling clients to achieve goals and maintain healthy lifestyles. Farm Fresh to You has been growing mouth-watering organic produce and delivering it to customers since 1976. Go Solar provides solar electric and domestic water systems, and Miss Helen has devoted twenty-five years to nurturing children and providing developmental activities in the areas of music, crafts, and movement. The Law Office of R. Andrew Murray prides itself in its personal attention to clients in matters of real estate, business formation, estate planning, and bankruptcy, and Worm Fancy is a vermiculture business whose passion is the redirection of food wastes out of our landfills.

Returning as Music in the Park’s main sponsors are Meg, Michael and Melissa Heede of RE/MAX Gold, the number one independently-owned brokerage firm in California. Final sponsor for this year’s first installment of Music in the Park is City Councilmember Lauren Hammond, who is gifting SCNA with the stage that is the main setting for the event.

The Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association (SCNA) formed in the 1970’s to rescue the old Sierra School from demolition. Since then, SCNA has brought neighbors together for a diverse slate of year-round events, and has offered a cohesive voice for community concerns. The restored Sierra 2 Center serves as a focal point for artists, teachers, students, parents, children, seniors and more, all who rely upon its dance studios, gardens, performance spaces, meeting halls and class rooms to provide a secure and charming home. Curtis Park is a residential neighborhood of approximately 2500 homes, a patchwork of diverse architectural styles situated around a quaint 18.32 acre park.