Dear editor:
The Sunday, Feb. 22, weather was no problem for the hundreds of fans of the Hot Springs Concert Band who attended the program at the Hot Springs Convention Center. With special guests performances by the Village Big Band, conducted by Bill Morgan and featuring vocals by Maureen Morgan, and the New Horizons Band, conducted by Bill Crook of Crook's Music Service, you can be sure the afternoon was full of musical entertainment to appeal to all types of musical tastes. These musical marvels are all volunteers.
Dr. Craig Hamilton, musical director and principal conductor of the Concert Band, uses his skills to create a program to entertain and educate the audience. Dr. Hamilton is the Lena Goodwin Trimble Professor of Music, director of bands, coordinator of instrumental studies and chairman of the Music Education Department at Ouachita Baptist University. He wears a lot of hats. Dr. Hamilton also tells funny stories. Well, maybe not always funny, but he tries. There is always a program theme at the summer Whittington Park series, which charges no admission, by the way. We are truly fortunate to have these dedicated musicians and leaders committed to providing this musical adventure in our community.
Their scholarship awards program includes mentoring area students by offering them a place to perform with the band during performances in the area. I do not know the criteria, but I do know the band offers scholarships to selected students to complete their musical education. I had one student tell me that his experience in playing as a member of the band increased his performance level by at least two years in only a few short months. Now that is notable.
Coordinating 30-plus musicians, schedules, programs, promotion, etc., takes a team and that takes a team leader. Charles Gilmore, president of the Concert Band, is the glue. He also plays in the band's percussion section, which upon observation looks like "Duck, Duck, Goose" (children's game), because of the moving about of the section players, playing all those different percussion instruments. For performance scheduling, go to http://www.hotspringsband.org.
Shirley Chauvin
Membership Committee chair
Hot Springs
Editorial on 02/25/2015