At 18, Gene Passarella headed to war. At 99, the Purple Heart recipient heads to downtown Scranton, ready for his orchestra’s next performance. He taps his foot and signals for the orchestra to begin. “1, 2, 3, 4…” The trombones and trumpets blare, as Passarella conducts the band he has led since the 1950s. The crowd at La Festa Italiana in downtown Scranton came to see Passarella, shot by a sniper in World War II, but known for his music.

As the orchestra plays “Moondance,” members of the audience put down their pizza and porketta sandwiches and dance on Linden Street. For more than one hour, the musicians, part of the Gene Dempsey Orchestra, play music Passarella has arranged over the last seven decades.