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For 30 years, musicians like Hope Howard have joined the Spartanburg Community Band to bring community, joy, and musical excellence to the Upstate.
Howard has been a member of the Spartanburg Community Band — a full-size wind ensemble — for over half her life, first joining the organization onstage when she was only 14 years old at the invitation of George Wenger, who was the band’s conductor at the time.
“It was before the ensemble had transitioned to an adults-only structure, and they were short on clarinets,” she says. “George Wenger was the high school band director at Dorman High School, and he asked me if I would be willing to fill in for an upcoming concert.”
Howard greatly enjoyed the experience, and played in the band every summer throughout high school and college. After graduating from Winthrop University with a degree in Clarinet Performance, she wanted to put her skills to use and officially rejoined the band. Howard has been a member ever since — 23 years after her very first performance.
“I’ve always loved music,” she says, “as early as kindergarten. I loved the hymns at church, and I was raised in a family that played and sang all the time. Whether it was silly little songs, or my grandmother singing ‘It Is Well With My Soul,’ music was always around me.”
She says that she loves the Spartanburg Community Band because it offers anyone in the community the opportunity to bring the skills and lessons they learned as a young musician into adulthood, whether they’re now a professional musician or have a passion for music with no outlet.
“If you played in high school or college but haven’t had an opportunity to continue playing, we want you to come and play in our ensemble,” she says. “Our youngest member is probably 21, but we have a woman in our percussion section who was still playing the timpani at 95. It’s truly for everyone.”
Having spent over 20 years in the ensemble, Howard has had a front row seat to watching the band grow and change. “At first it was a very traditional band where we were playing a lot of patriotic things and classical music, but as the ensemble has continued to grow — particularly under our currency conductor, John Holloway — we’ve had a great opportunity to expand and include more types of music. Diane Lee from WSPA sings with us and emcees our concerts, so we’ve gotten to add a vocal component. We’ll do a lot of Broadway pieces, and we’ll have a full vocal set performing alongside the ensemble now. It’s a really good variety of music.”
A 501c3, the Spartanburg Community Band runs wholly on donations, which allows organization to cover venue costs for their performances, as well as sheet music to expand the band’s musical selections. They play a number of shows throughout the year for the community, from Memorial Day concerts to their upcoming Ice Cream Sunday concert series.
Howard says that some of her favorite memories with the band come from playing in Red, White & Boom celebrations over the years.
“Our patriotic concerts are really special. There’s something about being able to play Stars and Stripes, and having veterans in the audience that are waving their flags, and little children who are being exposed to what music can do for your core memories, and showing your pride in something…it’s a really great thing to see. Being able to honor those who have done so much for us and having the opportunity to watch those members of the military stand up to say that they were a part of it or their family members stand up on their behalf to recognize what they gave for their country has been very impactful for me.”
On April 19th, the band will be hosting a particularly meaningful event — their 30th Anniversary Concert. The concert will be held at Chapman Cultural Center and will feature the band’s 65 members, in addition to all living conductors who have worked with the band over the past 30 years.
It will be a celebration of all the organization has brought to the Spartanburg community, as well as a testament to the impact the group will continue to make on the local music scene for years to come. The event is free and open to the public, and the ensemble hopes to have the opportunity to celebrate with as many people as possible.
Learn more about the 30th Anniversary Concert and other upcoming events by following along on Facebook at Spartanburg Community Band.
