Striking up the band

The four living conductors of the Washington Municipal Band took turns directing the band at its first concert Thursday night. Former conductors Gary McCurdy, Bob McConnell and Norman Brooks shared the stage with current conductor Tom McNamar in front of a few hundred people in lawn chairs eager for live music.

Brooks directed the band from 1991 to 2002 and can be seen each Thursday night somewhere in the band?s brass section. He said it was nice to lead the band for once without having to do all the behind-the-scenes work prior to a concert.

?What was going through my mind was, ?Boy, I?m glad I didn?t have to put this together,?? he said. ?There is a lot of work that goes on beforehand and I didn?t have to do it. Music has to go in the folders and you have to worry about the instruments.?

Brooks teaches fifth grade band at Mid-Prairie Elementary School. He said he was pleasantly surprised to see 18 of his former students in the band. Two other Mid-Prairie band instructors, David Kunz and Ross Schumaker, also perform in Washington?s band.

McCurdy directed the band from 1971 to 1973. He said he quit directing because he enjoyed playing in the band more than he enjoyed conducting it. He said it was fun to conduct one number Thursday night and that it brought back memories from his days as a director.

?I think it gives you a respect for what the conductor has to do, and it gives you a better understanding of what he?s trying to achieve,? he said.

McCurdy taught band at the junior high and later at the high school in Washington. He had McConnell as a student when McConnell was in junior high.

?He was one of those kids who didn?t work as hard as they could but they always achieved so much because they had so much natural ability,? McCurdy said. ?In high school, he got serious about his playing and went on to do extremely well in college.?

McCurdy said that seeing his students become life-long musicians was the most satisfying part of being a former teacher.

?It is the most rewarding thing I have experienced, to feel my students have developed the same passion for music that I have,? he said.

McConnell, who directed the municipal band from 1982 to 1990, said he was impressed with the band and also the new bandstand.

?It?s nice having the space and some protection from the rain,? he said. ?The other great thing is that the band gets to rehearse in the Presbyterian Church. When I started with the band, we practiced in a room in the junior high which was not air conditioned.?

McConnell began playing in the municipal band in 1968 when he was in junior high. He remembers having McCurdy as an instructor. After his last lesson in ninth grade, he remembers McCurdy saying that he hoped McConnell would continue in band because he thought McConnell was talented.

?I remember that no one had ever said that to me before,? McConnell said.

Wayne Brock and John Winga are a few of the current band members who played under all four living conductors. Brock and Winga have been in the band since the 1940s and can remember almost every director in the band?s history.

Brock said, ?Every director is a little bit different. The thing I like about all of them is that they?ve been very precise on their directing, pointing out the count. That really helps.?

Winga said he remembers the band?s 50

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anniversary in 1982, which also generated much fanfare. He said all the past players from the band were invited back for one concert that year.