A PODIUM Special Feature:
Community Bands Why an article in The PODIUM on community bands? We’re honorary collegiate band organizations! But we spend only four to six years in college bands, and then we have the rest of our lives. And except for Drum Corps International, there isn’t much band activity for college students in the summer. The first part of this feature, compiled by Dixie Mosier-Greene, looks at how several ΚΚΨ/ΤΒΣ alumni and actives have continued their band involvement in the summer and post-graduation. In part 2, ΤΒΣ’s Dana Swanson provides some insight on hosting a community band festival. In part 3, NAA North Central District Director Kelly Twomey Eidson offers some suggestions on how alumni can continue to be involved with their local community band.
I# The Music Never Ends by Dixie Mosier;Greene National Membership Services Coordinator
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community band is a nonprofessional, nonprofit organization that offers band music to the surrounding area. The band age ranges from high school students to senior citizens, from college students to ΚΚΨ and ΤΒΣ alumni. The level of expertise varies widely (should I say wildly?) The whole point of its existence is music and fun. Alpha Chapter members play in the Stillwater (Oklahoma) Community Band every summer. Bill Ballenger, former Oklahoma State University marching band director, directs the ensemble. The favorite part of every concert the children’s march around the auditorium. The previous director was Hiram Henry, a DSMM winner in Instrumental Music. Shantia Kane, a ΤΒΣ active at the Epsilon Rho Chapter at Virginia State, plays saxophone in the Richard Bland Community Wind Ensemble in Petersburg, Virginia. One of the music department professors recruited her as his wife is the community band director. The twenty-five to thirty members in the band include ΤΒΣ active Denetrice Edwards who also plays alto sax. They rehearse every Monday night, with one performance a semester. Shantia also performs in the Renaissance Band of Richmond, which performs swing and big band music. B. J. O’Shea, Alpha Rho, ΚΚΨ, plays in the Northeastern State University (Oklahoma) bands during the school year. But every summer, she plays euphonium in the summer band at the University of Central Oklahoma. Directed by Ron Howell, it is open to anyone in the community, no matter their age. There are no auditions; people who have been there before know their seat, whether it’s first chair for some of the faculty who sit-in, or last for a few community players just starting on their instrument. The band rehearses once a week for about a month, leading up to a July 4th (or thereabouts) watermelon concert on the campus lawn,
performing a full hour program which always ends with a Sousa march. After a long hiatus, BJ rejoined the summer band last summer. In her own words, “I saw many familiar faces, including some of my high school friends and the instrument repair shop owner who provided a lighthearted view of the tuba by imitating a snake coming out of his horn while the oboe was playing her cadenza . . . Furthermore, I made new friends, including high school students who asked me what those three big letters I’d wear to rehearsal meant .” John Wakefield, director of Bands, at the University of Maryland directs the UM Community Band which rehearses on Tuesday nights. Kathy Rodeffer, past National President of ΤΒΣ, says that at least 25% of the band members are ΚΚΨ or ΤΒΣ alumni. John Finocchiaro, formerly of the ΚΚΨ National Council, is a member of the Compaq Big Band, a twenty-one piece swing band consisting of Digital Equipment and Compaq employers (www.compaqbigband.com). Several ΚΚΨ alumni play in the twenty-five-year-old band which performs year round in the New England area. The band has performed at high schools to raise money for their music programs. They even played on the battleship USS Massachusetts as a fundraiser for Battleship Cove in Fall River. Eden Prairie Community Band in Minnesota has been so successful with its ten performances a year that most of its members will be going to China for a cultural exchange this year; the band is also planning a visit to Southern Europe in 2003. John FitzGibbon, former ΤΒΣ Midwest District Counselor now serving on the NAA Board of Directors, enjoys participating, playing typical senior-high level composers and charts. The forty to fifty members range in age from sixteen to seventy+. Some of them also play in a jazz band or in the pit orchestra in an outdoor musical play; this year it’s “The King and I.” The community band keeps the town’s interest level in music high enough to pay for a new high school performing arts center with cutting edge facilities.
Continued The PODIUM, Spring 2002 – 23
