I am starting my search for a community band in my little corner of Georgia. The main problem is that I live an hour from Atlanta, an hour from Macon, and 90 minutes from Columbus. Still, with all the little towns down here there should be SOMETHING in the area! Just curious to know if any of you have found yourselves in this position. Wanting to play in a community band/orchestra but not having any options close to home? What did you do? How far do you have to go to rehearse/perform? Just curious. Thanks.
A suggestion, Dick. Try phoning the local high school (s) and ask for the music teacher. They will certainly know what is available in the area.
Where are you from? if you tell me the city might be able to give you some ideas... from the time to major cities you put down it sounds like you are in the area of GA i grew up in....
I live in Griffin, GA. I would be willing to drive to another town, but a hour drive seems a bit long (I would do it if I had to though). I had not thought of calling the local music directors. I will try that!
I grew up in Thomaston...I think griffin has a band you can play in..PM me for more info and i might be able to put you in touch with some of the local directors. also Jonesboro has some bands, you could be there in 20 mins or so if you fly up 341. also Barnesville was trying to start something up last year, dont know how it went..... Jonesboro would be your best bet.
D_i_c_k, Try this link: http://turing.gcsu.edu/~midgabnd/gamorg.html Looks like there are plenty of groups to choose from! Good luck, D_i_c_k! Best always, Bruce
Try Playing For a Local Church A good option is to play for your church, if they don't have a band, maybe play as an accompianist for the choir. If they don't have a choir, try to hook up with a few other brass players and form your own quartet/ quintet/etc. Practice some "church" hyms and music, there's plenty out there. Then approach your church to see if they would like some brass to enlighten the service. After forming a brass ensemble, and you don't belong to a church, then approach some local ones in your area. I'm sure that many pastors would consider an ensemble, especially when you do it for free; at least it gives you a venue. Just some thoughts...
Toots; I have not found a community band to play with yet, but I have found leads for several in this area (i.e. within a hour drive). I definitely want to get into one after the first of the year. Frankly, I put off the hunt because this holiday season has been total chaos for me. Between my wife and I we have 6 kids, the youngest one is 18. So between Christmas shopping, getting settled into the new house and the day job, I have about 1 hour a day to practice! Kind of a long story here, but if our church orchestra/band gets back together in January (and that is a HUGE if), that would be great, but I will still seek some other entity that is desperate enough to let me play. There are several groups around here in Atlanta and Macon that I found on a website that was listed in an earlier reply, but they seem to be almost semi-pro in nature. I am not yet good enough to play in that type of group. But there are options around, all I have to do is contact them really. Anyway, thanks for asking and I will keep you posted.
