Salina Municipal Band

Salina Municipal Band has got to be one of my favorite recreational activities during the year- not to mention for the heat-riddled days of the summer months. Summer is supposed to be all about stepping away from the monotonous pull of your everyday job (or schooling, in my case) and enjoying different pleasurable activities at a more relaxed pace. As a musician, however, you can't completely pull yourself away from this part of your life as it is, in essence, who you are. Musicians and music educators are in a field where people do not retire from their work - the only thing strong enough to pull them away is death. (First example to my mind: Dr. Joseph Figg, one of my most respected voice teachers.) It is in this spirit that I approach the Salina Municipal Band each June.

I sit in a section composed strictly of males, some aged and some not, and whereas any other occasion I would feel the need to prove that a female belongs in that section just as much as they do...the beauty of it is - I don't! I am not coerced into playing any notated line in any special manner other than the one dictated by my musical conscience. If I cannot read some rhythm or grasp some concept, the gentlemen in the section do not condescend tones or snort their disapproval lightly. They play the music right, (as it should be!) and use that as an example to teach the most important notion about music I've ever learned: You can be a good musician, and still ENJOY what you do! You heard me right! You can be a serious musician and not be judgmental and snooty about it! This equates to me that I've rediscovered why I will be involved in music in one form or another until I meet my very end. And it's not for any other convoluted reason than I simply love the feeling of being in an ensemble and letting the music flow!

Oh, and I must include at least one "Hakoda-esque" shameless plug:
Concerts are every Tuesday at 8pm in Oakdale Park at the Eric Stein Stage. Please join us!