History of The Simsbury Community Band

The Simsbury Community Band is a non profit organization formed in 1974 to provide an opportunity for its members to pursue their musical interests and talents and to provide the Simsbury area with free concerts throughout the year. The band plays a Fourth of July concert at the Simsbury Farms recreational complex, a Holiday concert and a Spring concert at the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Simsbury, and Wednesday evening concerts at the Simsbury Farms Ice Rink and at the Simsbury Meadows during the summer. The present organization began as an adult education course offering in 1974. However, there is considerable evidence that a community band, known as the "Citizens Band," existed in Simsbury as early as 1898, and that public interest in having a local band continued well into the 1930s. In the fall of 1974, after some serious recruitment efforts, the Simsbury Band was born. The first conductor was Art Levine, an elementary and junior high school instrumental teacher in the Simsbury school system. The band rehearsed once a week on Wednesday evenings from 7:30 to 9:30, as it does today. There was no budget for music, and the band began building its repertoire using music from the town’s junior and senior high school band libraries. After three months of rehearsal, the band played its first concert. It was a joint holiday concert with the junior high school band, and the group had only 18 members. 

 

By February 1975, the group had grown to 37 members. Plans were made to continue the band through the summer when the enrollment swelled to fifty. This summer band activity was under the sponsorship of the summer music and arts program. Plans were made to have the band play a couple of open-air concerts. The performance schedule, like the band, continued to grow. From two concerts its first year, the band added a summer concert at Simsbury Farms, the summer recreation complex, plus concerts at elementary school fairs and at McLean Home, a local home for assisted living. 

 

In 1976, the band was invited to perform at the town's Bicentennial Concert. Entitled "Our Musical Heritage," the concert was a celebration of our nation’s bicentennial and perhaps the best public exposure the band had ever experienced. Later that summer, the band presented its first summer series at various sites around town. This format continued until 1978 when the concerts were switched to Schultz Park in the center of Simsbury. In 1977 the band underwent a major change in structure. The group broke away from the Continuing Education Department and changed to a dues structure in an effort to gain independence and the funds necessary to purchase more music. Mr. Levine continued as conductor through 1981, and was largely responsible for the early success of the band. In 1981, the director’s duties were taken over by William Channon, former high school band director and Director of Music in the Simsbury Public School System. Under Mr. Channon the band continued to grow, and by 1984, the group had 62 members. 

 

Also in that year by-laws were adopted and a board of officers elected to help in the management and decision making of the band. 

 

The band’s library includes over 300 pieces of music purchased with members dues and public contributions. A full selection of traditional marches, concert band pieces, pop and show tunes, and arrangements of big band numbers from the 1930s and 40s provides an entertaining evening for the faithful who regularly attend the band’s performances. 

 

In the early days of the band, spouses of members made up most of the audience. Mim Shepard, one of the original members who just recently retired from the band, remembers an early concert played by the band. "It was performed outdoors in the parking lot of Latimer Lane Elementary School. The audience was made up of the few neighborhood children playing in the parking lot and the reliable spouses, a total audience of not more than ten to fifteen people," says Shepard. While spouses and other family members are still faithful at concerts, the band enjoys a loyal following of friends who simply enjoy good band music. The 1997 holiday concert at Eno Hall "packed the house" and audiences continue to grow as the band and its concerts receive wider and wider attention. 

 

Today the band is under the capable leadership of Ertan Sener, Music Director and conductor, and a group of officers responsible for the affairs of the band. The band regularly plays concerts in Simsbury and surrounding communities. For information about how you can schedule a concert in your area, send an e-mail here.

 

Source: John Zenisky, The Simsbury Community Band, A Historical Perspective, Research Paper for CCSU, May 1990. The band thanks Mr. Zenisky for his permission to adapt portions of his work for this purpose.

 

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