The Hill Country Community Band Begins a New Concert Season
by Oda Lisa, published in The Wimberley View 2/8/18
The Hill Country Community Band (HCCB) will begin their 2018 season with a “pops” concert on Saturday, February 17, at 7:30 p.m at the Wimberley Community Center. One of the selections from the free, hour-long concert is from West Side Story, a medley including portions from “Maria”, “Tonight”, “One Hand, One Heart”, “Cool”, and “Somewhere”. Another concert feature is the Academy Award-winning “Theme from Schindler’s List”,” music by John Williams, and arranged by Calvin Custer. Also included in the line-up of show favorites is “Highlights from The Music Man”, a medley which includes excerpts from “The Wells Fargo Wagon”, “Till There Was You”, and “Seventy-Six Trombones”.
As a performer with the HCCB, Eduardo “Eddie” Esparza explained that there is a misconception that concert band music is limited to the marching band style. He added, “But, it’s a classical genre. Concert band is America’s first classical medium, used to be little, city bands, back in the 1890s, 1900s.” Referring to February’s pop-concert, he said, “We just wanted to try something not so ‘bandy,’ not so serious.”
Playing alto saxophone with the HCCB for a number of years now, Esparza is both principal chair and section leader. Explaining his dual role, he said, “The first chair usually gets the solos, that kind of thing. As section leader, you get more of the responsibility, like handing out the music.” Besides being able to play the range of saxophones, he plays clarinet and flute.
Thinking back, Esparza recalled, “My first introduction to classical music was movie themes and TV show themes. I can remember being four, maybe three years old, sitting in front of the big TV console, and then running into the kitchen to get one of those milk crates that the milk guy used to bring to the house and standing on top of it with a spoon, conducting my little brains out.”
Speaking overall for the band, he said, “We wanted to do something that will make the audience say, ‘Oh, that was so much fun! I want to hear more.’ So, we decided to throw a pops-concert. We’d really love it if we could do it once a year.”
A bonus feature to the Saturday night concert is that the HCCB will raffle off a special prize for a week-long stay from June 9 to June 16, 2018, in a 3 bedroom condominium in the mountains of Angel Fire, New Mexico. The 3-bedroom condo, which sleeps 10, is near mountain biking and hiking trails, a zip-line, and streams and lakes for fishing. The raffle tickets will be available for purchase for $5.00 each before the concert, and the drawing will take place immediately following the concert. However, the winning ticket-holder does not need to be present to win.
The Wimberley Community Center is located at 14068 RR 12. For more information about joining the Hill Country Community Band or donating time or money, contact Board President, Les Tucker, at [email protected]. Visit the HCCB website at www.hillcountrycommunityband.org for band news and future concert dates.