Local theater veteran Liz Rubino will make her debut with the W.D. Packard Concert Band at its next concert.
Rubino, an Austintown Fitch High School graduate, now splits her time between the Mahoning Valley and New York. She made her New York solo cabaret debut in 2010 at the Duplex Cabaret, and she and singing partner James McClellan performed earlier this year at New York's Metropolitan Room. Last year she starred in Youngstown Playhouse's production of ''Gypsy.''
With the Packard band, she will perform two George and Ira Gershwin standards, ''Someone to Watch Over Me'' and ''They Can't Take That Away from Me.''
''I love 'Someone to Watch Over Me.'' I've always enjoyed singing it, and the other one is just a blast,'' Rubino said. ''I'm looking forward to having a good time with it.''
However, the approach will be different than if she was singing these songs in a cabaret show backed only by a pianist and maybe a rhythm section.
''In a cabaret setting, you have all the room in the world to create your own interpretation and tell a story,'' she said. ''With a band, you have to be willing to move with them. I'm sure it will be stunning to have all of those instruments behind you, but your story becomes more than just your story. It becomes their story too.''
Guest conductor for the concert with be Frank Tracz, professor of music and director of bands at Kansas State University. Tracz earned his bachelor's degree and doctorate at The Ohio State University and his master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Other selections for Sunday's concert include John Philip Sousa's march ''The National Game,'' Jaime Texidor's Spanish march ''Amparito Roca'' and music from the movie ''The Wizard of Oz.'' The Packard trombones - Bill Forrester, James Jackson, Leslie Core and Mike Shevock - will be showcased on Norman Leyden's Concerto for Trombones and Henry Fillmore's ''Lassus Trombone.''
The concert starts at 7 p.m. Sunday at the south lawn band shell of Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave. N.W., Warren. Admission is free, and funding is provided by the W.D. Packard trust. For more information, call 330-841-2931.