Sunday, September 12, 1999
List of Tristate concert bands
Here is a list of 17 Tristate concert bands, some more than 100 years old.
Band members range in age from teens to octogenarians. Most ensembles are amateur, although a few professional bands (those that use union members) are also listed.
Most bands give free concerts and support their activities through contributions from members, donations or fees paid by presenters.
Charteroak Stationary Marching Concert Band
Membership: About 45 musicians from local high schools.
Rehearsals: Rehearsals begin in November; location to be announced.
Upcoming concerts: In December, the band will play Christmas concerts in area rest homes, including its 500th concert.
History: Robert Seifert, who founded the band in 1971, named it after Charteroak Drive, the street in Kenwood where he lives. The band has been guest conducted by pops conductors Erich Kunzel and Mitch Miller and former Cincinnati mayor Jerry Springer.
Information: 793-2707.
Cincinnati Brass Band
Membership: 34 musicians, ranging in age from 20s to 80s.
Rehearsals: Saturday mornings, Pleasant Run Middle School, 11770 Pippin Road, Mount Healthy. The band charges dues of $40 a year.
Upcoming concerts: They will help the Cincinnati Pops open its Music Hall season, today in Music Hall. Other concerts TBA.
History: Director Anita Cocker Hunt formed Cincinnati Brass Band in 1993 to give adult musicians the experience of playing traditional British brass band music. The band is Cincinnati's official brass band for national competitions sponsored by the North American Brass Band Association. It has won first place in two different levels of competition.
Brass band instrumentation creates a different timbre of sound from that of the concert band. The ensemble is British in origin: cornets are used instead of trumpets, and alto horns take the place of French horns. The upper voice is composed of flugel horns; the bottom is baritones, euphoniums, trombones and tubas. There is also a small percussion section.
The brass band tradition was adopted in this country by the Salvation Army bands.
Information: 398-9687. To book the band, call (513) 424-1769.
Florence Community Band
Membership: The band has about 35 members, ages 14-70s.
Rehearsals: 7:30 Monday evenings, Florence (Ky.) Government Center.
Upcoming concerts: The band's brass ensemble will perform for “A Walk for World Peace Day,” at about 6:45 p.m. Sept. 14, at the Peace Bell in Newport, Ky.; Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 23, Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington.
History: The Florence Community Band was founded by Carl Biehler 15 years ago, and is funded by the city of Florence. It plays city functions, church festivals, parades, special events and gives annual Christmas concerts at Florence Mall and Lakeside Christian Church, Lakeside Park, Ky. Todd Whitford is conductor.
Information: 428-1405.
Greenhills Post 530 American Legion Band
Membership: Anyone may join, although many are veterans.
Rehearsals: 7:30 Monday evenings, American Legion Hall, 11100 Winton Road, Greenhills.
Upcoming concerts: 7 p.m. Sept. 27, Evergreen Retirement Community, Hartwell; 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25, Twin Towers Retirement Community, College Hill; 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15, Northgate Park Retirement Community, Bevis.
History: Ed Vollmer, Bud Scholl and Jack Wimmer founded the band in 1984 to play for Greenhills community events, veterans affairs and national holidays. It was a spinoff of the Ohio Military Reserve Band, which disbanded. Now led by Jim Hissom, the band plays in parades, retirement homes and gives public concerts.
Information: 851-1254.
Halker-Flege Post 69 American Legion Band
Membership: The band has 28 members. “All you have to do is have a horn to join,” conductor Charley Lohmueller says.
Rehearsals: Rehearsals take place weekly in the spring, American Legion Hall, 9000 Reading Road, Reading.
Upcoming concerts: 1-3 p.m. today, Taste of Reading (Benson Street); Armistice Day Ceremony, 11 a.m. Nov. 11, Veterans Memorial, Cooper Road, Blue Ash.
History: Mr. Lohmueller, 77, a bandleader for a drum and bugle corps in the Navy during World War II, founded the band in 1946 and remains its conductor. The first Memorial Day parade had a mixture of soldiers, sailors and Marines, each in his own service uniform.
A staple of Reading's patriotic parades, it was a marching band until 1974, when bass drummer Don Flertag collapsed and died while marching. Now the band performs on a flatbed truck.
The band recorded three albums and made a video between 1966-76.
Information: 554-1938.
Mason Community Band
Membership: About 70 members, open to anyone.
Rehearsals: 7:30 p.m., the first and third Tuesdays of each month, in the band room of Mason High School, Mason-Montgomery and Stitt roads. Rehearsals begin in October.
Upcoming concerts: The band will perform in October and November (dates TBA) at the Mason High School Auditorium.
History: In 1996, community members got together to see if there was interest in a community band. They placed an ad in the newspaper, and 40 people showed up for the first rehearsal. Tim Holt is director.
Information: 398-1320; Web site: www.sundtec.com/mason/
The Mount Community Concert Band
Membership: From high school students through adults.
Rehearsals: 7:30 p.m. Mondays, the College of Mount St. Joseph Theater, Delhi Township. Anyone is welcome; there are no auditions.
Upcoming concerts: 2 p.m. today, Harvest Home Fair, Cheviot; 2 p.m. Oct. 10, College of Mount St. Joseph Theater; Christmas Concert, 2 p.m. Dec. 5, College of Mount St. Joseph Theater.
History: About 20 years ago, the band started as the Oak Hills Community Band, with Michael Merry its first conductor. In 1986 it moved to the College of Mount St. Joseph. Ken Bierschenk became conductor in 1996.
“We play patriotic songs, marches and popular tunes, but also serious concert band literature,” Mr. Bierschenk says.
Information: 779-9259.
New Horizons Band
Membership: For adults age 50 and older who are beginners.
Rehearsals: Two mornings a week at Saint Barnabus Church, Montgomery. There is a fee of $125 per 18-week semester.
Upcoming concerts: To be announced.
History: The New Horizons program was founded by Roy Ernst about 40 years ago at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. Peter Metzger is the director.
Information: 683-5845.
Ohio Military Band
Membership: Anyone may join. “It's a good place for saxophone, flute and clarinet players who have graduated from high school and have no place to play,” says Mark Hensler, director.
Rehearsals: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Ohio National Guard Armory, 68 Shady Brook Lane, Hartwell.
Upcoming concerts: 7 p.m. Thursday, Manor Care at Woodridge, Fairfield; 7:30 p.m. Sept. 30, Northgate Park Retirement Community, Bevis; and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11 at the Seasons Retirement Community, Kenwood.
History: This is the area's oldest community band. In 1904, 13 Civil War veterans of the former First Regiment Band of the Ohio National Guard formed the Ohio Military Band as a volunteer and social band.
But its roots go back even further, to 1854 and an independent volunteer infantry company at Camp Dennison, Ohio, known as the “Guthrie Grays.” The company became part of the Ohio Militia, which served in the Civil War, and later became part of the First Regiment of the Ohio National Guard. The First Regiment disbanded in 1898.
The band plays for retirement communities and civic and social functions.
Information: 793-4887
Oola Khan Grotto Band
Membership: The band represents the Oola Khan Grotto, a Masonic organization, but you need not be a member to play. “We are currently in need of musicians to fill our ranks,” says conductor Jack Matre.
Rehearsals: Tuesday nights, in the basement of the Carthage Masonic Hall, 69th and Vine streets, Carthage.
Upcoming concerts: All concerts start at 7:30 p.m.: Sept. 21, Maple Knoll Village Retirement Village, Springdale; Oct. 5, Cedar Village Retirement Village, Mason; Oct. 12, the Alois Alzheimer's Center, Greenhills; Oct. 26, Eastern Star Home, College Hill; Nov. 16, Little Sisters of the Poor, University Heights; Nov. 23, Brookwood Retirement Community, Sycamore Township; Dec. 7, Northgate Park Retirement Community, Bevis; Dec. 14, Western Hills Retirement Village, Delhi.
History: The band is at least 70 years old, and many famous conductors have led it, including march king Henry Fillmore and Deke Moffit, a Cincinnati musician and composer of “Little Red Caboose.”
Information: 385-0109.
Queen City Concert Band
Membership: About 35 members of all ages, the oldest being 87.
Rehearsals: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, the Cincinnati Musicians Association, 2145 Central Parkway, West End.
Upcoming concerts: 3 p.m. Oct. 10, Eastgate Retirement Village, Clermont County; 2 p.m. Dec. 4, Columbia Health Care, Reading.
History: The Queen City Concert Band started out at the Powel Crosley YMCA Band under locally famous conductor Herbert Tiemeyer, who started bands at Ys throughout the city. Dorothy E. Kemp became conductor in 1972 and in 1979, renamed it the Queen City Concert Band. It plays in parks, nursing homes, community events and festivals.
Information: 681-8728.
The Simon Winds
Membership: A professional band consisting of union members.
Rehearsals: The band rehearses according to its performance schedule at the Cincinnati Musicians Association, 2145 Central Parkway, West End.
Upcoming concerts: 7 p.m. Sept. 28, Blue Ash Amphitheatre, Blue Ash.
History: Simon Winds is named for Frank Simon, a renowned cornet soloist, assistant conductor of the Sousa Band and founder of Middletown's Armco Band. It was founded in 1981 by Robert Hornyak, professor emeritus at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In 1989, the group disbanded because of lack of funding.
The band returned in July, led by Mr. Hornyak and sponsored by the Rockwern Charitable Foundation. The foundation will endow annual band concerts in Cincinnati.
Information: 922-6241.
Southwestern Ohio Symphonic Band
Membership: Based in Butler County, the 80- to 100-piece band includes players from Cincinnati, Dayton, Springboro, Fairfield, Hamilton and points between. Miami University students may join for college credit.
Rehearsals: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Lakota West High School.
Upcoming concerts: Christmas concert, 3 p.m. Dec. 5; Others will be March 12 and May 7. All concerts are in Dave Finkelman Auditorium, Miami University, Middletown.
Programs usually feature Miami University faculty members and band members as soloists. Paul Droste, former director of the Ohio State Marching Band, has appeared on euphonium.
History: William Stiehl, Middletown City Schools music coordinator and director of Middletown High School Bands, founded the band 32 years ago as a campus community band for Miami University, Middletown. Chris Brandenburg became director in 1984.
Information: 777-2692.
Sycamore Community Band
Membership: About 65 members, all ages.
Rehearsals: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Sycamore High School, Montgomery. Rehearsals resume Thursday.
Upcoming concerts: The band will play Sept. 25 at the Chautauqua Festival of Art in Madison, Ind., and at Cincinnati's Tall Stacks on Oct. 17.
History: Peter Metzger, 62, started the community band in 1975 as part of Sycamore Community Schools adult program and remains its music director. The band, which has grown from five to 65 members, celebrates its 25th anniversary this season. Its 20 annual appearances include Coney Island's Summerfair, a Flag Day concert in Blue Ash, and Madeira community concerts.
Information: 683-5845.
Syrian Temple Shrine Band
Membership: 30 musicians; members must be Shriners.
Rehearsals: 7:30 p.m. Fridays at the Syrian Temple, William Howard Taft Road, Mount Auburn.
Upcoming concerts: Performances (TBA) revolve around Shrine activities.
History: More than 100 years old, the Shrine Band's history dates to 1898 when a small band formed for temple functions. The first director was Albert A. Kumler from 1902-08. Others have included the cream of Cincinnati's bandmasters, including Herman Bellstedt, Henry Fillmore, Herbert A. Tiemeyer and George G. “Smittie” Smith. Peter Metzger has directed the band since 1984.
The band has traveled to conventions across the country, and in 1923 played Henry Fillmore's “Men of Ohio” for President Warren G. Harding on the White House lawn. It has played for audiences as diverse as the first indoor Syrian Circus at Music Hall in 1924, and for the prisoners in the Colorado State Penitentiary in 1946.
In temple pageants, it has played for stars such as Red Skelton, Roy Rogers and Bob Hope.
The band is one of the few left in the country that still marches instead of riding on a truck.
Information: 683-5845.
The Sounds of Sousa Band
Membership: Musicians of Northeastern Ohio and Greater Cincinnati, all members of the American Federation of Musicians.
Rehearsals: Times and places vary.
Upcoming concerts: 6 p.m. Nov. 21, New Philadelphia High School, New Philadelphia, Ohio.
History: Band director and Sousa impersonator Marcus Neiman founded the ensemble in 1992 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of John Philip Sousa's professional band. The band gave its first Cincinnati concert in 1996.
Information: 831-2059.
Terrace Park Sometimes Marching Band
Membership: Volunteers from Terrace Park and nearby provide music for annual Terrace Park events.
Rehearsals: “We don't rehearse,” bandleader Albert A. Nelson says. The band plays for three Terrace Park annual events: the PTA Memorial Day Parade, the Recreation Commission Labor Day Parade and the Christmas tree lighting and carol singing.
Upcoming concerts: 6 p.m. Dec. 5, on the Village Green, for Terrace Park's arrival of Santa Claus.
History: The band was formed in 1961 by Jack and Joyce VanWye.
Information: 831-9220.
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