by Oda Lisa, published in The Wimberley View 11/26/20
The Hill Country Community Band will help get Wimberley in the Christmas spirit with a free holiday concert on Sunday, December 6, at 3:00 pm., at the First Baptist Church of Wimberley. Titles on the playlist include the beautiful Appalachian folk carol, “I Wonder As I Wander”, the jaunty and jingly, “Sleigh Ride”, and a rousing medley from “The Polar Express”. The current president of the HCCB is Neal Mallard, who has played trombone with the band since its beginning in the early 1990s. Perhaps more than any other of their popular past performances, this Christmas event has a deeper significance which is greater than solely being an enjoyable and joyful concert. For the group, this concert in particular represents a newfound cohesiveness, acheived both musically and personally, despite these disturbing times. Mallard said, “When you can lay your burdens down with the help of your own band of brothers and sisters, it is all the more special.”
Not quite two-thirds of the way into his presidency, the HCCB was unable to have weekly practices or any concerts including the Fourth of July performance with the Wimberley Community Chorus. Mallard said, “Dealing with the virus has been a nightmare for everyone. We began this season with no answers, only questions. Nothing has been easy, new problems pop up constantly, and it has been relentless. That only serves to make the experience of playing more satisfying. Our band members really need this outlet. Music is a sublime elixir.”
A trombonist starting in 5th Grade, Mallard stopped playing after college and vowed never to touch a trombone again. He said, “That commitment lasted until I moved to Wimberley in 1989, and was suddenly presented with wonderful opportunities to make music again, and I have loved every minute of it since.”
Referring to the challenge of performing while the band has to practice social-distancing, he said, “My biggest fear was that people would not be able to hear subtleties from such distances, but I was amazed at how well it worked.” When practices were allowed to resume, only twenty-six musicians attended, so alternative section arrangements were implemented to produce the best sound quality. Mallard said, “As the band has grown to forty-four players now, we’ve returned to a more traditional setup but we still space as much as we possibly can. It works but it’s weird.”
Then, speaking of the challenges caused by wearing a mask while playing, Mallard explained, “Music masks look like normal cloth surgical masks with ear loops, but have a vertical slit with overlapping flaps in the area that covers the mouth. To play, the musician has to separate the flaps and find a way to get the mouthpiece either on the lips or inside the mouth, depending on the type of instrument.” Giving the subject a personal spin, he said, “Masks are a necessary evil. I despise them with the heat of a thousand suns, but it’s just what you have to do if you want to give people the security they need to feel safe.” Mallard continued, saying “There is nothing natural about a mask. It distorts the feel of the instrument on the face. As a trombonist, I find myself particularly aggrieved. The trombone mouthpiece is large so you have to burrow in further to spread open the slit in the mask, just to get the metal connected to the lips. Due to the overlapping flaps, the inside of the mask is not smooth, which means my beard is forever getting tangled up in the cloth, and trying to blow a trombone with hair in your mouth is a dreadful experience indeed.”
Mallard concluded, “What good can come from a global pandemic? Precious little, although one golden nugget that has appeared during this season of turmoil is a significant number of my band mates have begun to open up a bit more about themselves, and there is a deeper friendship forming. Some of our members are really hurting from the isolation and uncertainty of the times. Some are working jobs that suddenly became much more stressful over the past nine months. For many musicians, music is a vehicle to make sense of the world around us.” The latter statement can apply to their grateful listeners, as well.
Invite your family and friends to celebrate the Christmas season with an hour of festive music. Following the county’s order, wearing a facemask or shield is required. The First Baptist Church of Wimberley is located at 15951 Winters Mill Parkway. For more information about volunteering with the Hill Country Community Band or making a monetary donation, Visit the HCCB website at www.hillcountrycommunityband.org and follow on Facebook for current band news and future concert dates.
