Suzy and I have been members of the Woodinville Community Band for over seven years now. I have been the sax section leader and joined the board six years ago as the Event Coordinator. Suzy has been in the clarinet section and is now the Librarian managing the three bands (Concert, Eastside Modern Jazz Orchestra, and Pacific Cascade Big Band) music library.
There have been three directors during that time. The current director, Leah MacDuffie, is amazing and has a great sense of humor. She has to have humor to survive working with 60 people who are hobbyist musicians! Last night’s concert was a tour de force with some of the hardest music I’ve ever played! Our videographer, Harry Miller, captured this picture of the the band:
I was struck with a couple of impressions from this concert. One, more people from the band wandered out and talked with the audience during the intermission. I had first seen this with the Washington Wind Symphony. Some of my sax section peeps saw me doing that again this concert and said they didn’t know we were allowed to do that. Going out into the audience and talking to the many family and friends who attended the concert reminds me a lot of my youth in Iowa where there were potlucks (remember them?) and concerts on the courthouse lawn. That was a time that people took the time to talk to their neighbors.
After the concert there was a flurry of turning in music and moving the rhythm section stuff back to the high school band room and the trailer. Then we all met at Claim Jumpers to break bread, chat, and get to know people. My table included tenor saxophonist John Gess, who was going stag that night as his lovely wife Hilde was out of town, trumpet player extraordinaire Dave, clarinetist Anita, and their son (a sax player but not in the WCB (yet?) he is going to WWU), and Suzy and me. 90 minutes later we were making our good byes and Suzy and I were astounded how fast time had gone.
Some time in the near future I will be posting a video or two from this concert. I really feel Suzy and I are so fortunate to get to play a in concert band of this caliber together. I wonder how many of the folks in the band realize how lucky we really are. There are many people on the waiting list to get into the 60+ band and no openings! And the music we play is very dramatic, be it a piece by a composer like Holst or and final and triumphant encore by Sousa! Here is a taste from a recent concert:
Feel free to join the Woodinville Community Band, family and friends on Facebook for future announcements of concerts, events and band openings for musicians.
The Bis Key Chronicles 