The Hamlet, Carmen, Castaway Connection

An Admission

—by Adena Schutzberg

I know it's not cool to admit this, but I'm a big fan of Gilligan's Island, the silly TV sitcom from the 1960s. As I kid I watched it in syndication on lazy weekday afternoons when I didn't have anything better to do. The seven castaways lived in an idyllic world of sunshine on a remote island in the vicinity of Hawaii. Despite the unique events of each episode, the closing credits always left the residents exactly as they'd always be, stranded on the island. It was on this TV show that I first encountered the music from the opera Carmen, one of the pieces we'll play at our March 7 concert.

The Producer (Season 3, Episode 4)

In what many consider the show's best episode, The Producer, the self-important movie director Harold Hecuba, played by Phil Silvers, crash lands on the island. He may well be their ticket home, but one castaway, movie star Ginger Grant, is slighted by Hecuba and refuses to return to civilization should they be rescued. To convince Grant and Hecuba of her talent, the castaways produce a musical version of Hamlet, set in part to the music of Carmen. In the end, Hecuba steals the idea and returns to Hollywood to develop it, without the castaways.

The best part of the story is the "show within the show," performed on the bamboo stage, first by the castaways, then by Hecuba, playing each of the roles. At six, when I probably first saw this episode, I knew nothing of Hamlet nor Carmen. When I later heard Carmen, probably in high school, I'm sure I thought, "Hey, that's the music from that Gilligan's Island musical!"

The five-minute castaway produced musical version of Hamlet.

Why is this version of Hamlet/Carmen so Sticky?

I can, even today, sing nearly all the parts from this product from memory. I can even recall some of the Hamlet dialog! Why did this mini-musical make such an impression on me at six?

1. Carmen has some really catchy tunes. Even my housemate, who understandably closes the door to his office when I practice, said "Hey, I know that piece you are practicing. What is it?" When I said Carmen, he made the connection. I was disappointed he did not reference Gilligan's Island.
2. The lyrics are funny and rhyme. This advice from Polonious to his son Leartes is a bit like Dr. Seuss for the slightly older set:

   Neither a borrower, nor a lender be, Do not forget, stay out of debt!
   Think twice and take this good advice from me.  Guard that old solvency!
   There's just one other thing you ought do do! To thine own self be true!

3. The staging is memorable. I always enjoyed the inventions on the island. The pedal-powered car was one of my favorites. For the staged production there was a hand-cranked record player providing the background music from Carmen. (While it's not discussed, I assumed the rich couple had the recording with them on the three hour boat tour when it left Honolulu.) Further, the castaways build a stage, with open flamed footlights.

What will you think of when you hear The Concord Band play Carmen?

I confess that when I practice the arrangement of Carmen the band has selected, the Gilligan's Island lyrics run through my head. When did you first hear Carmen? What does the music make you think of? Come hear it in a whole new way at our Winter 2020 concert!

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Adena Schutzberg has been a member of the Concord Band clarinet section since 2005 and has been a regular contributor to this blog. She is a recognized author and expert in geospatial technology, working as Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC) Program Manager at Esri. She is an avid runner, having completed multiple marathons and 100-mile ultra endurance events.

Memoir: Senior Member Recalls a Lifetime of Service

I joined the Concord Band a few months after finishing my doctorate at MIT's Sloan School of Management and moving to Acton. I had been made aware of the Band by my next-door neighbor, the late Brad Fuller, who played French horn in the Band at the time. I had not played since the end of my senior year in 1965. My four years as a member of the MIT Symphony had been quite wonderful, getting to know and play with the some people who, like me, despite their primary interests in their upcoming careers as scientists, engineers, academicians or managers, also took music very seriously.

In this last of many articles I have written or edited for Notes, the Concord Band newsletter, I want to review just a few of the more important achievements of my 50 years (not to pat myself on my back, but to make it clear that nothing happens unless someone takes the initiative) and to identify the directions in which I would like to see the Band go in the coming years.

One thing I would like to point out: very few of the things I have done for the Concord Band are directly related to music. As I have made clear to the members of the Band over the years, it takes much more than making good music to be an effective member of the Concord Band. I am not planning to retire as an active playing member of the Concord Band, only from most of my non-musical activities.

A Few Past Achievements

In 1970, I persuaded the Band Board to end the Band's parade appearances, allowing it to become strictly a concert band.

In 1972, I began using a computer-based word processing system (of which I had managed the development) to generate personalized fundraising letters. The Band hired a commercial artist to design a new logo for the Concord Band.

In 1976, I persuaded the Acton-Boxborough unit of the Emerson Hospital Auxiliary to sponsor an annual spring Pops concert the night after Concord Rotary's concert and to share expenses. This sponsorship lasted about 40 years. In 1985, I introduced Santa Claus to the Holiday Pops Concerts. Bill Toland, the Band's first Music Director, after Pops that year, commented, "This guy is the real thing." The same Santa has been with us ever since.

I was Fundraising Chairman for most of the period beginning 1970. Although I continually met or exceeded targets and mounted a substantial surplus as protection against any future financial disaster, I feel that I should have done much better. This is a function that deserves considerable improvement.

Having conceived of and introduced Notes as a replacement for the annual fundraising letter, I eventually became its editor and publisher, responsible for writing or sourcing the page 2 article. I organized and managed the processes for newsletter and fundraising mailings to a list of 3,000 three times a year (the third time is for a summer schedule postcard). Later the number of recipients was reduced to 1,800.

I conceived of the Lifetime Service Award. First given in 2002, thirteen have been awarded to date. I took on the responsibility of producing Concert CDs to give them professional quality documentation and packaging.

I designed new percussion cabinets and worked with Lexington's Minuteman Regional High School carpentry shop supervisor to have them produced by students.

In 1995, at the end of Bill Toland's tenure, I wrote the Band's Mission Statement in preparation for the search for a new Music Director, and coined the Band motto, "A Community Band with a Professional Attitude".

During planning for the 50th Anniversary season, I conceived of the idea of making video recordings of Fall and Winter Concerts as a major addition to the Band archive. I brought in Concord-Carlisle TV as the production company and acted as Executive Producer and post-production editor. I organized the Band to get the Fall, 2008, Concert video onto as many public access cable stations as possible to promote the 50th Anniversary concert in March, 2009. Beginning with that first concert, each piece performed has become part of the Concord Band YouTube Channel, which now includes more than 200 performance recordings.

In time for the 50th Anniversary Concert, I proposed naming Bill McManus Music Director Emeritus and Bill Toland, Music Director Laureate.

Suggested Future Directions

The next Concord Band Fundraising Chairperson should try to do much more with the job than I did. In particular, grants beyond those of the Massachusetts Cultural Council should be investigated and, where appropriate, pursued. In addition, fundraising methods used by other symphonic wind ensembles around the country should be explored, and those that appear to be most promising, tried.

One promising area is the involvement of local school children. There are a few potential advantages of such activity. In addition to providing performance opportunities for the kids, it makes them aware of us in advance of potential membership later in life. More immediately, it makes their parents aware of the Band's concerts.

Finally, I want to encourage all those who may serve on the Band Board of Trustees in the future to continue to pursue the Band's program of commissions, setting aside funds every year and seeking grants for major works. I would recommend avoiding consortia as they make it very difficult for any one participant to influence the work to be created. I would like to see the Band commission a work for symphonic wind ensemble and mixed chorus.

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Dan Diamond is the senior member of the Concord Band, having joined the Band as a percussionist in January, 1970, and is now in his 50th year. He has been a member of its Board of Trustees for most of his time in the Band. In 2009, he received the Band's Lifetime Service Award. He is president of the nonprofit, Dream Centers for the Performing Arts.

The Community Band with a Professional Attitude

by Daniel S. Diamond, PhD

In 1994, when the Concord Band began to search for the successor to William M. Toland, who was planning to retire after 32 years as the Band's first Music Director, I proposed that we adopt as our motto The Community Band with a Professional Attitude to distinguish ourselves from most other community bands.

We are not a professional band. The majority of our members do not support themselves from income earned playing their instruments. Furthermore, Concord Band members are volunteers; the only paid members of the Band are our Music Director and Assistant Conductor.

So what does it mean for the nonprofessional Concord Band to have a professional attitude? It means that we make a significant effort to do everything both musically and in support of our musical product-as well as we can, subject to our natural skills, training, the amount of personal time available and the Band's resources. In a past Notes from the Concord Band newsletter, I wrote that in the area of marketing, the Concord Band really has to do most everything that the Boston Symphony Orchestra does, but only with volunteers and substantially less budget.

William M. Toland
Music Director Laureate

Over time, any community-based music performance organization will seek to improve itself through more innovative programming and performances of increasing quality. These will attract larger audiences and more skilled members. These, in turn, will make it possible for the ensemble to tackle more difficult works. Each of the Concord Band's three Music Directors has had his own approach.

William M. Toland, named Music Director Laureate shortly after his death, focused on what he considered to be good music, but avoided music that he thought was too demanding. He initiated the important practice of bringing in high caliber guest conductors, adding an important dimension to the education and experience of our members.

Working with a new or guest conductor is a very special experience, particularly for amateur musicians. Each conductor has his or her own unique characteristics, both in rehearsing a piece of music and in communicating information about it during a performance. Guest conductors tend to elevate almost everything in a player: One's attention level is elevated significantly. Preparation for rehearsals and performances with a guest conductor is noticeably more intense than usual. All of this inevitably leads to an improved performance level, which one hopes will carry forward.

Dr. William G. McManus
Music Director Emeritus

Concord Band guest conductors have included Frederick Fennell, William Revelli, Arnald Gabriel, Leonard B. Smith, John Corley, Willis Traphagan, Peter Hazzard, Lee Chrisman, James Curnow, Steven Grimo, Thomas G. Everett, Alfred Dentino, Christopher Morehouse, Paul Berler, William H. Silvester, Malcolm W. Rowell, Steven Barbas, Elliot Del Borgo and Keith Brion.

Music Director Emeritus, Dr. William G. McManus, was willing to have the Band take on challenging works, which depended on members' polishing their parts at home and he planned for extra rehearsal time before presenting such works in concert.

James O'Dell
Music Director

Current Music Director, James O'Dell, assumes that the Concord Band can handle pretty much anything, but in his first decade, at least, he has avoided works that would require so much personal practice and rehearsal time that it would detract from other pieces on a program.

What has been the result of the efforts of our three Music Directors and our membership, in which there is very little turnover? In 2013, the Concord Band received the Sudler Silver Scroll from the John Philip Sousa Foundation. This award, "North America's most prestigious award for community concert bands, recognizes community concert bands of outstanding musical excellence." The Concord Band was the first community band in New England to receive the Sudler Silver Scroll.

The first five pieces written for the Concord Band were all gifts. In 1974, the Town of Concord Bicentennial Celebration Committee provided small sums to the Concord Band, Orchestra and Players to have works written on the occasion of the Bicentennial. Concord Band Music Director William M. Toland approached internationally recognized composer Norman Delio Joio, who proposed re-scoring his own piano composition, Satiric Dances for a Comedy by Aristophanes, for wind ensemble. This first commission of the Concord Band has been extremely successful. It has been performed all over the world by concert bands from high school to professional military bands.

The Concord Band's outstanding contributions to concert band repertoire.

Since 1967 the Concord Band has either commissioned, or received as gifts, 83 new compositions and arrangements for symphonic wind ensemble—possibly more than any other community band in the world.

Additional composers of works for the Concord Band have included Peter Hazzard, Richard Cornell, Robert Sirota, John Bavicchi, Douglas Toland, Kurt Phinney, Warren Barker, John Higgins, James Curnow, Thomas J. McGah, Dan Lutz, Stephen Bulla, William Gordon, Lewis Buckley, Julie Giroux, Elliot Del Borgo, Jerry Seeco, Roger Cichy, Andrew Boysen, Jr., Rene Pfister et al, Jerry Vabulas, William M. Toland, and Dr. William G. McManus.

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Dan Diamond is the senior member of the Concord Band, having joined the Band as a percussionist in January, 1970, and is now in his 50th year. He has been a member of its Board of Trustees for most of his time in the Band. In 2009, he received the Band's Lifetime Service Award.

Remembering Alfred Reed

Dr. William G. McManus
Music Director Emeritus

By Dr. William G. McManus

Bill McManus was the second Music Director of the Concord Band, serving in that position from 1995 to 2009. Upon his retirement from the Band, he was named Music Director Emeritus. Dr. McManus has been an extremely successful and much revered musician and music educator.

Alfred Reed’s music has been a part of The Concord Band’s long legacy of performing outstanding classics of the concert band repertoire. It will be my honor to conduct Alfred Reed’s A Festival Prelude at The Concord Band’s Winter Concert on March 2, 2019, in celebration of the band’s 60th Anniversary Season. Dr. Alfred Reed is generally recognized as one of the most important composers of music for concert band and wind ensemble of the 20th Century. He published more than 250 compositions for band, orchestra, chorus, and chamber groups and is perhaps best know for composing many works that have become classics of the concert band repertoire. His compositions have been performed throughout the world.

Over the years, The Concord Band has performed many of Alfred Reed’s original compositions for concert band, including such classics as A Jubilant Overture (performed in 1970), A Festival Prelude (1984), A Symphonic Prelude (1984), Second Symphony (1979), Armenian Dances, Part 1 (1995), Russian Christmas Music (1995), El Camino Real (1997), and Hounds of Spring (2004). The Concord Band has also performed many of Reed’s great arrangements, including The Music Man (1974), Greensleeves (1978), Radetzky March (1998), and Finiculi, Finicula (1998). Alto saxophonists from The Concord Band, including the late Dr. Gerald Kriedberg, were frequently featured performing Reed’s great arrangement of Harlem Nocturne. One of Reed’s very last compositions for concert band was Music in the Air, which was played by The Concord Band at the 2006 Winter Concert in Alfred Reed’s memory.

Alfred Reed
composer

I first met Alfred Reed in 1987 when he came to Boston to present a clinic of his music at a conference of the Eastern Division of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC). The College of New Jersey Wind Ensemble was participating in the clinic with Dr. Reed and would be performing a number of Reed’s compositions in the clinic. Prior to the conference, Dr. William Silvester, the Director of The College of New Jersey Wind Ensemble, contacted me and asked me if his wind ensemble could use the Belmont High School auditorium for a rehearsal with Dr. Reed the day before the conference in order to prepare for the clinic. I was delighted to accommodate this request and was able to have all of my Belmont High Band members excused from classes for the morning so that they could attend the rehearsal and meet Alfred Reed. This was especially timely since my band was currently learning one of Alfred’s pieces—Armenian Dances. What an experience this was for my students! Especially since Armenian Dances was one of the pieces that Alfred Reed was featuring in his clinic at the conference in Boston. My students were able to watch Alfred rehearse this piece with this wonderful wind ensemble.

Armenian Dances is an extremely challenging and exciting piece for concert band and one of my all-time favorite pieces for symphonic band. I rehearsed this piece with The Concord Band as part of my audition for the directorship of the band and then included Armenian Dances in my very first concert with The Concord Band at 51 Walden in the fall of 1995.

While it was an honor for me to meet Alfred Reed, it was also an honor for me to meet Dr. William Silvester, the conductor of The College of New Jersey Wind Ensemble. This music group was one of the premiere college wind ensembles in the country. Dr. Silvester was also the conductor of The Eastern Wind Symphony, an adult symphonic band based in Trenton, New Jersey. Dr. Silvester and I became great friends and colleagues. We were honored to have Dr. Silvester as guest conductor of the Concord Band at the 2003 Winter Concert. I knew that Dr. Bill Silvester and Alfred Reed were very close friends, and in 2004 I asked Bill if he thought Alfred might consider a commission by The Concord Band. He suggested that I ask him myself and told me that Alfred would be visiting New Jersey to attend a recording session of his music by The Eastern Wind Symphony. I traveled to New Jersey and was able to enjoy a wonderful evening with Alfred and Bill. It was over dinner that Alfred leaned over to me and said, “I hear that you want me to compose a piece for The Concord Band.” He told me he would love to compose an original composition for the Band and we began a correspondence regarding the commission. Unfortunately, Alfred died in 2005 without having completed the composition. The day after his death I received the following email from his family:

Alfred Reed passed away yesterday afternoon, 17 September. His gift to the world is a body of music that will continue to thrill, charm and delight audiences in virtually every country of the world, as it has done for the last fifty years. His gift to those of us blessed to have known him was a kind and generous spirit that is all too rare.

What Music Would You Listen To on a 100 Mile Run?

Adena running at Fort McDowell State Park, outside Phoenix, at about mile 30, well before the blue hour.
(Photo by Howie Stern, race photographer)

—by Adena Schutzberg

I’ve observed a connection between my running and the music we play in the Concord Band. You could even say that my running is what brought me to The Concord Band. When I started running seriously, I found myself in a quandary. My running club, The Somerville Roadrunners, held track practice on the Tuesday nights. That was the same night the Woburn City Band held its rehearsals! It was on a rare Tuesday night that I didn’t have track practice, that I visited with my bandmates and learned that the Concord Band needed a clarinet or two for an upcoming concert. I was invited to rehearse, on Monday nights, and perform in the concert.

I was honored to be invited to join the band officially after the Holiday Pops concerts in 2005. Our Winter Concert featured The Gum-Suckers March by Percy Aldridge Grainger. It was the first time I’d played it and it was quite challenging. I’d rehearse one passage of about ten measures over and over. In February 2006, I traveled to Martha’s Vineyard to run a 20 mile race. The race was very cold and long. And what was the soundtrack in my head? Those ten measures of The Gum-Suckers March! I recall mentioning the experience to then Music Director Bill McManus who was not sure what to make of it, but was pleased I was practicing!

More recently I’ve begun to consciously select Concord Band music to listen to while running. For each new concert members receive a “Practice CD,” with performances of each piece. It’s been valuable for me to get more familiar with the music, to follow along on my own part, and sometimes to “play along.” I like to move the music to my iPod and listen to it a few times during training runs.

I listen to audio while doing training runs, but I rarely listen to anything when racing. Some races do not allow earbuds for safety reasons bit I just prefer to focus on a new location and my fellow runners. That said, I changed my practice, just a little, after this year’s Winter Concert titled Shades of Blue. While I loved all the pieces, I could not get John Mackey’s 2010 Hymn to a Blue Hour out of my head.

The blue hour refers to the time of day after twilight but before total darkness. I read about the piece online and was excited to learn that Mr. Mackey accepted our invitation to attend our concert. After chatting with the composer at the reception after the concert, I came up with an idea. I was training for a 100 mile race a few weeks after our concert. I decided to put a recording of the piece on my iPod and carry it with me. I’d wait until just the right moment and try to experience The Hymn to a Blue Hour at the blue hour.

A few weeks later I was running in Raleigh, North Carolina in a lovely forested park on smooth, wide dirt roads. I looked forward to the blue hour from the 6 am start and finally pushed play at about 5:30 pm. I remember listening and looking up at the sky through the trees. At one point, after I’d put away the iPod, I caught up with a runner who’d passed me during that time. She said, “I’m not sure what you were listening to when I went by but you had a huge grin on your face.” After that experience, I decided, if at all possible, I’d play Hymn to a Blue Hour during every 100 mile run.

As we played through our music for our Fall Concert (Songs and Dances), I noted a piece called Cantus: Song of the Night. When we played it, we all got the Hymn to a Blue Hour vibe, even though this piece was written two years earlier (2008) by Austrian composer, Thomas Doss. Cantus is performed with an accompaniment of ocean and seabird sounds. I grew to really like that night piece, too, and was ecstatic about how well we performed it at the concert, the week before my next 100 mile race, scheduled for Phoenix. I added it to my playlist.

This race was in a desert park on trails with loose rocks, some soft sand and cactus that sometimes got uncomfortably close. Again, I looked forward to the right moment to press play, this time listening to Cantus before Hymn to a Blue Hour. Again, I had a very enjoyable transition into night.

Now that I’ve added this little bit of music to my 100 mile runs, I’m beginning to understand why I enjoy it so much. First off, it’s simply something special to look forward to during a run that will typically take me more than 24 hours. Second, it’s always fun to listen to music you like. Third, the music, this music, helps calmly introduce the night. Running at night can be especially stressful. Runners don headlamps to light the way and often slow down to prevent getting lost or falling. Somehow, I feel more ready to take on the night with night music in my head. I plan to continue this tradition of playing appropriate “night music” during the blue hour.

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Adena Schutzberg has been a member of the Concord Band clarinet section for 12 years. This year she completed the Umstead 100 Endurance Run in April and the Javelina Jundred (Hundred) in October of 2017.

The Baton of Death

—by Julie Ann Giroux

I collect antique conducting batons. Some are purely decorative, ceremonial or commemorative. Occasionally I find one that actually may be usable. I bought this particular baton hoping to use it. Good length, 13", didn't look to be a bad baton in general. Truth be told, this silver handled and tipped weapon of mass destruction turned out to have been sired by Satan himself. Never has there been a piece of wood more cursed or feared.

The Baton of Death

It is very slick and offers no point or area for secure grasp. I dropped it twice just getting it from my briefcase to the podium. The rehearsal room was hot, like 90 degrees hot, thermostat set for real winter cold but instead frying its participants in their own globally warmed juices. An hour into rehearsal, the baton took flight on a vigorous up beat, successfully destroying an expensive overhead stage light with a red lens cover. The area behind me was showered with red crystals, bringing to mind the High School Gym Scene from the movie Carrie. (‘They are all gonna laugh at you!’ Why yes, yes they did.) I continued to use it...

It is black and hard to see, only giving slight whispers of leadership from its tiny, unpolished solid silver tip. My beat became more implied than factual; a rarity, in today's climate, an alternative fact. Beat patterns were in step with Big Foot as he walked across the film footage; questionable as to its authenticity. It slipped beneath the waters of precision like the Loch Ness Monster, forcing many to question whether they had actually seen something or not. Reports of clear beat patterns became as rare as UFO sightings but less reliable. Cues were almost mythical. I stubbornly continued to use it...

The weight of the baton is extremely heavy for its size. If it were made of petrified wood it would be lighter than this. The solid silver tip and handle add weight, yes, but not that much. An over exuberant beat 3 of a 4 beat pattern sent the black missile off stage right with tremendous velocity and strength, successfully launching out of the sweaty, greasy, menopausal, perpetually hot flashed hand (mine), striking a lectern microphone out of its cradle which loudly bounced on, then off, the lectern, striking the floor with huge thud, then rolling off the end of the stage, meeting its demise on the cold, concrete floor with a sad clink. (Talk about ‘drop the mic…’) Damn it! I paid a fortune for this civil war period baton and I'm going to use it.

Concert—8:00. Formal Dress—The Black Baton with the Solid Silver Tip— Fear, Apprehension and Cause for Alarm —Final piece on the Program—hell of my own creation—VI. ‘Hakone Pass’, Book marks from Japan, 200+ Odd Meters at Tempi Di TearAss.

Seventy plus measures in, Satan's Stick launched on its final mission into space straight at a percussionist holding a chime mallet. Quick to react, he leaned backwards, knocking over a suspended cymbal as the Baton whizzed by him. Like the slow motion scene with Keanu Reeves in The Matrix, I watched with horror as it narrowly missed the percussionist and hit the gong dead nipple center, creating a resounding gong crash. Thanks to the speed of the piece, both the Suspended Cymbal falling to the ground and the gong crash fell on musical pulses and neither stood out as unusual occurrences. I was forced to finish out the finale using my index finger as a baton, though had the band chosen, it would have been my middle finger because we did just fine without the baton. Up yours, Silver-Tipped Weapon of Mass Destruction.

The Civil War era Black Baton with the solid silver handle and tip now permanently resides with the other ‘unusable’ Batons in my collection and like a battle returned veteran has a respected spot up front. I give it wide berth as I pass it. I am certain that place in my house is cooler than it should be. I feel eyes on my back when I leave the room as The Black Baton with the Silver Tip & Handle whispers ‘Petrificus Totalus’. This is what happens when you mistake a Wand for a Baton.

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Julie Giroux, one of the finest and most prolific composers of music for wind ensemble, was born in Massachusetts, but by the time she graduated from high school, she was already a southerner, and studied music at LSU. Concord Band audiences have heard a number of her works, including Boston Liberties, commissioned by the Concord Band in 2009 and performed again last season. This brief story exposes a humorous facet of Julie that audiences may not get to see. It originally appeared as a Facebook posting earlier this year. Reprinted with permission.

How the blog came to be

David Southard has been a member
of the Concord Band saxophone section
since 1988.

by David Southard, blog editor

I was an engineer at a federal research laboratory in 1995, when I learned of a novel concept for data retrieval called hypertext. The Internet was in its infancy, and something called the World Wide Web was just beginning to emerge. The World Wide Web was born and, as they say, the rest is history.

At the time no one could have predicted the success of the web. I felt that the Band was a special organization, and by publishing our newsletters and programs online, we could offer a resource to band musicians and music directors. We could promote our concerts, certainly, but also promote community bands around the world.

I registered the Band’s website domain name concordband.org in 1995 and have donated the registry to the Band every year since. I handed off management of the website around the year 2000 and later shifted my attention a relatively new phenomenon: the web log or blog.

Web pages are good for stable information, but they can be difficult for maintaining dynamic content. On the other hand, social media like Facebook are great for capturing the moment—pictures, events, comments and reactions.

As an electronic journal, the Concord Band blog complements our other communication vehicles, including those in print and those that are Internet based, particularly social media. The blog strikes a pleasant balance, in that it records thoughtful posts and articles, organized so that the most timely and relevant information is always front and center. The Concord Band blog may be reached via a link from the Band’s website home page, or directly at blog.concordband.org.

Over the course of a year, the Concord Band produces a surprisingly rich set of published materials—press releases, posters, announcements, feature articles, guest artist biographies, programs, programming notes, reviews and performance videos. The blog captures and organizes all of these in a way that is very accessible.

The main section contains the most recent articles, yet all past articles are easily found using the navigation bar on the left. The tabs across the top reference all the Band's other online media, including our Performance Video Porfolio—a powerful way to access our YouTube performance videos—and complete programs since 2009.

The navigation bar on the left helps the user find background on our national recognition, the Sudler Silver Scroll award from the John Philip Sousa Society, as well a rich collection of articles and features. The navigation bar on the right provides the season schedule calendar of events, map and directions to 51 Walden.

Although the blog publishes publicity and program information that the Band normally produces, we've also had a number of band members submit memoir articles specifically for the blog, speaking personally about how they became involved in music, and how community band has become a significant influence in their lives.

I would like to see more articles written expressly for the blog. For example, it would be very interesting to read audience members’ observations on how the Band has changed over the years. What new repertoire would you like to hear? How has the Band enriched your life? What directions could we take to become more involved in local communities? I invite Band and audience members to submit articles. You can submit your suggestions in the comment section, below.

Memoir: My Triumphant Two-Concert Tenure with the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Long ago (sometime in 1952), but not terribly far away (Springfield, MA), I began my life-long avocation as a percussionist. Around the age of 11 or 12, I fell in love with classical music. I credit this largely to my first music mentor, Lee Crabtree, Director of Music Education for the City of Springfield, and his wife Mary. They were also neighbors, and their kids became my best friends.

Many of my musician friends were members of the Western Massachusetts Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, and I let it be known that I wanted to do that, too. I wasn’t really ready, but Mr. Crabtree persuaded my second music mentor, Robert Staffanson (who, at age 94, has recently published his memoir, Witness to Spirit: My Life with Cowboys, Mozart & Indians), conductor of both the Springfield Symphony and the YPS Orchestra, to give me a shot, perhaps based on my enthusiasm. My experience with the Springfield YPS Orchestra was phenomenal. Playing under Mr. Staffanson was such a joy partly because he treated the kids like adults. It was there that I really began to learn what it meant to be a musician. Sometime before high school, an audition for some ensemble or other introduced me to my third youthful music mentor, Warren Myers, who was in his first few years as a percussionist with the Springfield Symphony and Band Director at the high school that I would eventually attend, in no small part because he was there.

Left to Right: Lee Crabtree, Director of Music Education, Springfield schools; Robert Staffanson, Music Director, Springfield Symphony Orchestra; Warren Myers, Percussionist, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, and Band Director, Springfield Technical High School; Harry Ellis Dickson, Violinist, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Conductor of Boston Symphony Orchestra Children’s Concerts.

Warren Myers, I should mention, had an incredible snare drum roll. It was, as he was willing to acknowledge, as “smooth as silk”. He was also a phenomenal cymbal player. I had the opportunity to hear him play fairly regularly because during high school, my friend Lee Crabtree (son of my first mentor) and I became assistant stage managers for the Springfield Symphony. This meant in reality that we set up the Orchestra members’ chairs and stands for rehearsals. But we also got to be at those rehearsals. Warren would send me up to the first balcony to listen to him adjust his snare drum: “Too much snare? Too much head?” he would ask.

Memoir: The Music that Made Me Love Symphonic Band

by Adena Schutzberg, Clarinet
(Author's note: If possible, read this while listening to the audio.)

A Rather Poor and Unmotivated Musician

May 1975 En-ka Parade. I'm the one with
black hair whose clarinet is obscured.
(Photo by Christopher Brown)

Like many of the other kids in my town, I started music lessons in fourth grade. Like many of those kids, I didn't practice much. I really enjoyed the participatory part of music. That's fifth grade me in a clarinet rank in the Winchester, MA elementary school 1975 All Star Band. I played in junior high, too, but really I was a rather poor, unmotivated musician through ninth grade.

The summer after ninth grade my mother signed my brother and me up for the University of New Hampshire's Summer Youth Music School (SYMS). We didn't know what to expect, but we did know that the first day everyone, all 350 or so students, had to audition. By that evening everyone was assigned to one or more ensembles for the two week school.

Campers graced the cover
of the 1979 double album.

There were four wind groups: two concert bands, a symphonic band and a wind ensemble. While all the groups were good (better than our high school band, certainly) it was clear musicianship rose in that order. My brother, a year old and far more talented than I, was placed in the wind ensemble and one of the jazz bands. To my great surprise, I was assigned to the symphonic band. I was seated about where I now sit in the Concord Band, one of the last clarinets in the last row of clarinets.

Let's Tune to Adena!

The first day of rehearsal we took our seats and picked up our folders. I looked through the music and it looked really hard. Then, the conductor, Walter Pavasaris (I remember his name to this day) said it was time to tune to.... Adena. I have no idea why he chose to tune to a third clarinet, but he did. And, once or twice more during the two weeks we tuned to me. I thought it was awesome. I was "somebody."