Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 4, 1993 TAG: 9302040298
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
HAVE BAND, WILL PLAY - ANYWHERE
There is no mistaking what M.C. White is enthusiastic about these days.Music.
And the Roanoke Valley Community Band.
This is a band that hopes to bring back a touch of the good old past, a time of Sunday afternoon concerts in the park where whole families turned out with a picnic and relaxed on blankets to enjoy stirring music - marches, overtures, Broadway show tunes and the sound of big bands of the 1930s and '40s.
"I'm 100 percent for this kind of music," says White, band president.
Any park, anywhere, is eligible for a concert.
White hopes to bring the band's sound to everyone in the Roanoke Valley and beyond.
The community band is a reincarnation of the Roanoke County band, which played during the late 1980s until it lost its band director. The Roanoke Valley Community Band was formed last October when Charles Krause, orchestra leader at First Baptist Church on Third Street Southwest, agreed to be the conductor.
"We're offering our services to festivals and community events at no charge," says White.
He is talking with promoters of Festival in the Park in Roanoke, the Dogwood Festival in Vinton and the management of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem.
"We want to give concerts in Roanoke, Salem and Vinton this spring because we are a Roanoke Valley band," says White.
The band plays music that is usually associated with high school and college bands. In fact, most of the members were in school bands.
Organizers set out to make the community band an extension of the school band to provide a fun outlet for former band members who had no place to play after leaving school. A few of the players, however, are still band students, teachers or directors. Most of them are people around 40 and older.
Having played in a high school or college band is not a requirement from members of the community band.
"We have no skill requirements and no auditions," says David Erb, band vice president. "Anybody who can play an instrument can come on out."
Aside from being an outlet for former school band members, the community band hopes to introduce to a new generation a type of music that once was popular. The band also wants to reacquaint older people with the music that was popular in their youth.
"We want to bring this music to the family," says Nancy Akers, secretary.
"Children love marches," she said, adding that the band hopes to appeal to all ages.
"I think we have something to say," said Akers, who plays clarinet and played in a high school in West Virginia.
Roma Scriven, treasurer, said she sees the band as an opportunity for the whole community to get involved.
"This is another opportunity for people to enjoy the arts," said Scriven, who played baritone, a type of horn, with the Highland Band at Radford University.
The band's biggest problems, White said, are lack of community exposure, funds and a year-round place to practice.
Band members now practice at Cave Spring High School, but can't practice in the summer because the school is closed.
Although no one is paid, the band needs money to buy sheet music, said White, snare drum player.
Erb says the band would like to get money to buy the music for some novelty tunes, such as "The Whistler and his Dog," a tune designed for percussionists.
Another problem is the ownership of the larger instruments. Most of those who play smaller instruments own their own, says White, but many who play larger instruments - the big drums and tubas - don't.
These can cost $300 to $400 each, said White, adding that he hopes someday the band can own these instruments.
At the moment the band has 59 members, White said, but would like more.
The Roanoke Valley Community Band practices every Tuesday night at 7:30 at Cave Spring High School. Anyone interested in learning more about the band can call White at 774-8885.