November 14, 2001

Former musicians measure up in NMC concert band

College Concert Band performs this Friday

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       The Northwestern Michigan College Concert Band provides an outlet for people pining for that great band feeling.
      This was the case for Katy Garrett of Elk Rapids, who for years after high school craved the concert band experience. A high school clarinet player, she had played in ensembles as an adult. But she missed the band experience and now a fixture in the clarinet line, she could not imagine not being in a band.
      "I tell you, the first time I played 'Stars and Stripes' with the band, I wept," Garrett said. "I enjoy everything about it. It just seems like I've always been in the band. My high school music teacher is in it and his brother - it's like I never left."
      The NMC Concert Band began in the mid-70s when the floundering Northwestern Michigan College band joined forces with six area musicians who wanted to form a concert band. Walter Ross, head of Northwestern Michigan College's music department at the time, met with the other musicians and the two small bands combined.
      Now offered as part of the college's extended education program, the band performs one or two concerts a semester. They also meet during the summer semester and have regular gigs at the NMC College BBQ and the college's commencement.
      The band currently has between 40 and 50 members and includes all ages and levels of experience - from a percussionist in junior high school to members in their 70s. The band even has one marriage to their credit, when romance bloomed years ago over the music stands between a tenor sax player and a baritone sax player.
      Band members characterize the band as laid back and supportive, with none of the competitive atmosphere common found in high school bands.
      "The nice thing is nobody is concerned if you move up the line, they are all pleased when someone improves," said Gene Tang, a euphonium player. "There is an atmosphere of camaraderie."
      Tang joined the band in the late 1970s and greatly enjoys participating. A former member of his high school band, he did not play for 28 years but now reaps many benefits from participating.
      "I refer to band as my weekly psychotherapy," he said. "It is a lot of fun, a good chance to express yourself and there are great people."
      Paul Schultz has been playing with the Concert Band for 10 years. He joined a community band in the Upper Peninsula years ago, after more than 20 years of not playing his trombone. He now also plays in the Northwind Brass ensemble and relishes his creative music time with others.
      "Some people go bowling every week, we play music," he said. "It is a wonderful outlet. When you play in an ensemble, you are not only performing yourself but working in a coordinated effort with others - a team effort."
      A cornerstone of the percussion section, Dede Cronin is a music major at Northwestern Michigan College. She joined the band last spring, in part to meet her ensemble performance requirement for her major. She found she really enjoys playing with the band.
      "I really like the music and if you enjoy instrumental music it is wonderful," said Cronin, a 1999 graduate of Traverse City Central High School. "You can listen to all the things you learn about music theory and history and kind of apply them in a real sort of way."
      Musically, the band constantly works to vary their repertoire led by a variety of directors over the years. The directors each bring their own strengths, interests and knowledge of music literature, which keeps the band fresh and learning. Even standard pieces the band plays, such as marches or patriotic songs, vary with different directors' interpretations.
      This semester's guest director, John Campbell, is challenging the band in a new way. With the band's first concert of the semester coming up Friday, they are busily putting the finishing touches on a variety of music, ranging from Ravel's "Bolero" and patriotic tunes to an Irish arrangement and variations on a Korean folk song.
      "John is making us feel the music and deliver a message through it, which is a new way of playing to me," Tang said. "It is exciting."
      The Northwestern Michigan College Concert Band will hold their first public concert of the semester on Friday, November 16, at 8 p.m. in the Milliken Auditorium. For ticket information, call the box office at 995-1553.