Plano Profile June 09 : Page 44
volunteering Take a bow! L OOKING FOR A PLACE to toot your own horn? The Plano Community Band may be right for you! The Plano Community Band is a volunteer band of almost 90 musicians. The group is best known for its summer concerts in Haggard Park, but the band also plays several popular indoor concerts each year and performs at various city functions. This diverse, talented group has continuously served the Plano and surrounding communities since 1979. “We provide a performance venue for adult players in 44 PLANO PROFILE JUNE 2009 The Plano Community Band All-volunteer aggregation marks 30 years on the bandstand the area,” said Plano Community Band Conductor Tommy Guilbert of Richardson. “We perform together for the com- munity. If you’ve got a horn collecting dust in the corner of your closet, dust it off and come play with us!” Guilbert has directed the band since 2001. His musical ex- perience includes directing bands in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana, producing consistent sweepstakes bands, many of which received state and national honors for outstanding performance. The band accepts new members twice a year, in
Volunteering
The Plano Community Band All-volunteer aggregation marks 30 years on the bandstand
Looking for a placd to toot your own horn? The Plano Community Band may be right for you!
The Plano Community Band is a volunteer band of almost 90 musicians. The group is best known for its summer concerts in Haggard Park, but the band also plays several popular indoor concerts each year and performs at various city functions.
This diverse, talented group has continuously served the Plano and surrounding communities since 1979.
“We provide a performance venue for adult players in the area,” said Plano Community Band Conductor Tommy Guilbert of Richardson. “We perform together for the community.
If you’ve got a horn collecting dust in the corner of your closet, dust it off and come play with us!” Guilbert has directed the band since 2001. His musical experience includes directing bands in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana, producing consistent sweepstakes bands, many of which received state and national honors for outstanding performance.
The band accepts new members twice a year, inSeptember and January. There are no auditions required to join the band, but the group requires that all prospective new members have the ability to play the level of band literature the group is rehearsing. Occasionally, a prospective member will be turned away, due to a surplus of certain instrumentalists in one area.
“Fortunately, we’ve had to turn away very few people,” Guilbert said. “Occasionally, we’ll have to turn away a trumpet player or a flute player. But life changes and job changes keep our membership flexible and keep us very well balanced. We very seldom have to refuse anyone a slot. And if we do, we always refer them to one of the community band organizations nearby.” Band members rehearse most Monday nights, year-round, at 7:15 p.m. at John Paul II High School in Plano.
A nonprofit organization sponsored in part by the Cultural Arts Council of Plano, the band is made up entirely of volunteers.
A look at the band roster shows representation from many occupations, including accountants, a chaplain, engineers, lawyers, professors, teachers, travel agents and more.
Plano resident Bill Bryan joined the Plano Community Band in the winter of 1979 during the band’s first year in existence. He found out about the opportunity to play in the band after reading a small article in a local newspaper.
Bryan is the Chaplain and an Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Dallas Theological Seminary. Although he works full time in that capacity, the 73-year-old enjoys playing trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn with the band and said many of the band’s members have been his close friends for decades.
“I have been involved in music since I was a child. I began playing trumpet at age 9,” he said. “It brings joy to my soul to make music. I still practice every day, and I love to encourage young people who are playing the trumpet. The wonderful thing about the Plano Community Band is that it is a volunteer organization, and we have never charged admission to any of our performances. This particular organization offers possibilities for friendships, providing enjoyment for others in our community and just the general richness and happiness of being involved with music.” Bryan shared a frightening story of the group’s travels to Hot Springs, Arkansas, several years ago for a concert band convention and performance.
“While riding with some of my buddies, an 18-wheeler in front of us dropped his drive shaft in the middle of the road and caused us to blow a couple of tires,” he said. “Frankly, it was a narrow escape for us, and we felt God had sent a guardian angel to protect us from tragedy, but we ultimately were able to laugh about it, and one of the band members even wrote a hilarious song about the incident!”
Marilyn Woodruff of Plano is not only new to the band, she’s new to the area as well.The clarinet player moved to Plano from Oklahoma City last August and is a business research analyst for Perot Systems.
She joined the band in January.
Woodruff also plays hand bells with several groups in the area, plays piano professionally, is a member of the Plano Clarinet Choir, and serves as a substitute director for several ensembles around the Metroplex.
“When I first moved to Plano, I was interested in a place to play,” she said. “I had been teaching clarinet lessons during my graduate work at OU, but aside from that had been playing very little for several years and I was anxious to ‘get my chops back.’ The band is a fun group that is open and friendly to new members. There is a wide range of levels in the band, from people who played in high school to those with college degrees in music. It is always interesting to hear people at all different levels come together to make great music.” Bryan and Guilbert agree that while the band’s Haggard Park performances are probably their most well-known and most fun, the band members also relish the opportunity to perform in a more formal setting, namely in Richardson’s Eisemann Center.
“It is very enjoyable for our band to present spring and fall concerts there,” Bryan said.
The band performs a myriad of music from every conceivable genre.
“I try to do theme concerts,” Guilbert explained. “We’ll do a kid’s night out, a big band blowout, a star-spangled celebration, and so much more. Music selection is probably the hardest part of my job. I have to balance the strengths and weaknesses of the group, the likes and dislikes of the players, and the preferences of the crowd.” The group does seem to have a great camaraderie, but they’re also quick to keep their conductor in his place, albeit in a somewhat teasing fashion. Guilbert said the group’s members are quick to let him know just how far his leadership does or does not extend.
“At my very first rehearsal, I went in early. I wanted to make sure all of the chairs and music stands were set up the way I wanted them. An older gentleman walked in with a trombone case and asked if he could help me. I told him no. Then he told me to stop what I was doing. He informed me that the players place the chairs where they want them… it was my job to only conduct!” he laughed. “I was dressed down by an 80-year-old trombone player!
Did you know?
Many equate the bandstand in Plano’s Haggard Park with the Plano Community Band. The bandstand is named after Thomas Hughston, one of the original founders of the band.
Hughston urged the City of Plano to build the structure, and he even hired an architect to design it. The Plano Community Band performed in the gazebo until the group grew beyond 60 members and could no longer fit in the structure. The group continues to play at Haggard Park, but instead sets up a band shell near the gazebo as an alternative.
Performances The Plano Community Band offers 10 concerts each year, including the popular summer concert series in Haggard Park in historic Downtown Plano. 2009 summer concert series performances are: . Monday, June 1 . Monday, June 15 . Friday, July 3 . Monday, July 13 . Monday July 27 All summer concert series performances are at 7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring picnics, blankets, and lawn chairs to the park to enjoy the concert.
The band also offers formal indoor concerts at the Eisemann Center and other locations, performs at city holiday events, and performs twice yearly at the Plano Senior Center. A full schedule is available at planoband.com. Volunteering A variety of volunteer opportunities are available with the Plano Community Band.
. Instrumentalists: New members are welcome during September and January every year, with exceptions for instrumentation required for musical balance.
. Publicity: Help promote the band’s free concerts.
. Roadies: Help set up and tear down the band shell before and after concerts.
. Administrative: Provide help for special events.
. Financial Support: The group received grant money from Cultural Arts Council of Plano, but the group is also always seeking corporate sponsorships and private donations.
For more information: Plano Community Band PO Box 864441 • Plano, Texas 75086-4441 info@planoband.com • planoband.com Amy Sandling Crawford is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Plano Profile.
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