Did you know there is a group of amateur musicians who meet once a week to practice music for your delight? Did you know that if you're a local musician playing a wind, brass or percussion instrument, you can be a part of a tradition that goes back well into the early part of the 19th century?

Picture for a moment the gazebo in a tree-shaded park. Inside that gazebo is a band, consisting of horns, woodwinds and percussion.

File photo (ENLARGE)

Dr. Steve Raisor directs a COA Community Band Concert. Raisor says the band consists of volunteers and all one needs to do to participate is show up each Monday night for rehearsal.

The music is flowing freely; tunes such as John Philip Sousa's "The Thunderer March," roll across the grassy park. It's a free concert, provided by a group of typically amateur musicians who play for the love of playing.

The days of community bands playing music in parks, aloft in gazebos is, perhaps, a memory. But the community band is alive and well, with nearly 900 alone registered on a Web site dedicated to linking such organizations; and, of course, the Albemarle region's own Community Band, organized out of the College of the Albemarle.

"I think we're pretty visible in the community," says Community Band director Steve Raisor, Ph.D.

Raisor is a 54-year-old musician who not only directs the Community Band, but he also heads up COA's music department. He began his music career when he was 12, taking up classical guitar.

Over the years Raisor has earned a masters in instrumental performance, playing the double bass as well as classical guitar, and a doctorate in humanities with an emphasis on music.

He also teaches classical guitar and produces CDs of his own work. But his full time job is teaching students at COA and directing the band.

Raisor joined COA as an adjunct (part time) professor in 1995 and became full time in 2000. He teaches music theory, music appreciation and other related courses, including directing the band, something that students can do for college credit.

He's been directing this group of amateur musicians for a number of years now. He says the band was started with a grant from Miles Clark, who set up an endowment for music at the college. And August, he says, is the time of year when he encourages more musicians to join him, volunteering their time and enjoying three to four performances a year.

"We have a dozen or so players that have been faithful," Raisor says of his core group of players.

The Community Band always has room for one more and could accommodate about 30, estimates band member Barrett Kidd. Kidd, who works as a civilian contractor at the Coast Guard base, became involved with the group about three years ago, looking to play trombone.

"But they needed a tuba player," he says of last year's performance season.

So tuba it would be and for Kidd that meant getting reacquainted with an instrument he had some background with, but not enough to jump in all at once.

"I had three days to brush up on it," he says.

Kidd is no stranger to music. He's been playing a number of instruments for years now, most notably with his classic rock band Midlife Crisis. He's also a cheerleader for the Community Band, encouraging community members to commit just one Monday evening a week to practice.

That's how he got fellow worker Brian Tiffany involved in the Community Band.

"The last time I had seen a piece of music was in high school," says Tiffany of his debut last year with the band.

Tiffany, 43, plays drums and he says he's grateful Kidd encouraged him to pick up his music after all these years.

"It's amazing how quickly it came back to me," he says. "It's a shame to let the talent go to waste."

Music does something for people. Like the upbeat sounds that emanated from park bandstands so many years ago, it can provide a mood and present the listener with a state of mind.

"It's a language," says Raisor. "You've heard it referred to as a universal language. It conveys emotion."

Music conveys so much emotion that Raisor says it's difficult for him to put into words exactly what it means to him. It does mean a lot to him, though, and that's why he's so passionate about sharing it with the public.

"Music is one of those things that is kind of hard to talk about," he says. "It's an emotional thing, I think."

He refers to a music appreciation textbook for more thoughts on the subject, quoting a passage.

"The language of music can't necessarily be put into verbal language."

Even Kidd expresses his love of playing music in abstract terms.

"Playing in a band, it has a certain feeling to it," he says. "It's kind of hard to put a finger on it. When you know you're bringing together a bunch of people you come into like a sixth sense with everybody trying to match their sounds and tones. Once you reach that, it's something you want to duplicate."

But music does somehow transcend the abstract conveyance and brings about many benefits, including the simple joy of being a part of a community. In short, "people come together for music," says Raisor. It provides a place for personal expression and a place to build new relationships.

And it's stress free, really, because there are no auditions. The Community Band is strictly a volunteer thing and anyone who has experience playing a brass, woodwind or percussion instrument can be a member.

"It's a real mixture (of people)," he says. "A lot of retirement age folks that have been playing for years. Students fresh out of high school. Seventeen to 70."

The Community Band plays several times a year, most notably during the Christmas season. The band not only plays a concert at the college's auditorium, but also plays for Museum of the Albemarle's holiday celebration.

The first rehearsal of the season is Monday, Aug. 5. Rehearsals happen every Monday at 7 p.m.

Raisor says the band will play a number of selections from well-known composers this year. Last year, he says they played selections from Claude T. Smith, "Emperata Overture," and did the "Allegro" and "Intermezzo."

For more information, contact Steve Raisor at COA by calling 252-335-0821, extension 2223.