Banding people together
Three generations of music lovers braved a chilly July 1 evening on the Woodstock Square to hear the City Band play.
The park was filled with fans, many with picnic suppers, to hear the band’s annual Independence Day concert, complete with pyrotechnics. Woodstock residents Gary and Lillian Ritter, along with their daughter and grandchildren, waited patiently for the patriotic revue, courtesy of a band celebrating its 125th season.
“It’s a fun, family thing, and it introduces the young people to music,” Lillian Ritter said.
Summer in Woodstock, Crystal Lake and McHenry means community band concerts. The free admission is a price that can’t be beat in bad economic times, and parents for once don’t have to worry about whether the musical selections come with a parental advisory.
Community bands are quintessential Americana, perhaps none more so than the weekly concerts of the McHenry City Jazz Band.
Concertgoers at Veterans Memorial Park are joined by food and craft vendors. The concerts act as a community calendar, as well, with announcements of upcoming events before the music starts.
The weather at the band’s June 25 concert was sunny and warm as band members warmed up to entertain the audience with the sounds of swing and the big band era.
For vocalist Maureen Christine, who graduated from McHenry West High School, there are fewer places she’d rather be than in front of an audience.
“The music of swing and big band is a fabulous kind of music to sing,” said Christine, whose songs that evening included “God Bless the Child” and “Accentuate the Positive.”
Musicians warmed up their instruments and arranged the music in their folders. Besides big band music, children’s selections included “Under the Sea” and the theme to “Sesame Street.”
Warming up his trombone was John Cummings, 75, who has played in the band for 50 years. Cummings, a Cary resident who turns 76 next week, said musicians had just as much fun playing as adults and children did listening.
“I enjoy it very much. It’s the typical camaraderie of musicians, I guess,” Cummings said. “Musicians are the best.”
A sticker for the Crystal Lake Community Band adorned Cummings’ trombone case.
He plays in both bands, which is not uncommon among McHenry County musicians, Crystal Lake director Don Ehrensperger said.
Ehrensperger called Cummings “a joy to work with,” which is an honorific he applies to many in his 80-piece band, ranging in age from 14 to 80. Ehrensperger became director in 1986 with the intention of doing it for just the summer, but the retired Cary-Grove High School music director has been doing it ever since.
His musicians stick with it for the same reason he has, Ehrensperger said.
“I think it’s because they had a good experience in music in their school days, and they want to continue. They want to continue making music, and striving for quality,” he said.
Woodstock’s band is a great way to keep in practice for Tim Graf. The 20-year-old clarinet player is home for summer from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he majors in music performance. He has played with the band since his junior year of high school.
But audience members have no more motive than a night of free family entertainment.
Audiences set up their chairs and blankets in the hours before the concert – the later you are, the farther back you have to stake your claim.
Tom and Esperanza Hart set up their place near the sidewalk in the minutes before the McHenry jazz band was set to play. Esperanza held their Starbucks iced coffee drinks while Tom unfolded their green chairs.
Like many of the concertgoers in Crystal Lake, McHenry and Woodstock, the Harts said they tried to make every concert.
“We enjoy the music, and we enjoy getting out together,” Tom Hart said.