seniors
East Cobb New Horizons Band Attracts Senior Adults In addition to the East Cobb New Horizons concert band, an active affiliate group known as the Memory Lane Jazz Ensemble performs for dances and concerts to the delight of many. This ensemble offers a unique mixture of great big band classics as well as more modern jazz and rock tunes. Mr. Carl Merwin directs the jazz ensemble. The band’s website www.ecnhb.com shows a complete schedule of upcoming events, lists the members, the band’s repertoire and also has a sign-up area for “Friends of the Band” to receive emails about upcoming concerts.
In Marietta each week, a group of musicians comes together to rehearse for two and a half hours. They rehearse in order to entertain various senior adult and church groups in the greater Cobb and Cherokee County areas. If anyone sees this band in concert, one thing is apparent : they are all senior adults. The East Cobb New Horizons Band offers adults age 50 or older, with musical instrument experience, the opportunity to join an actively performing concert band. Mr. George Broom directs the band. It began in 2005 with some 18 people and has grown to a dynamic group now featuring some 70 musicians. The band is a member of the New Horizons International Music Association. This international association currently has 170 member groups throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and Ireland. It all started in 1991, when the first New Horizons Band was founded by Roy Ernst in Rochester, N.Y. Today, Ernst’s idea of involving seniors in music has grown to an international organization — the New Horizons International Music Association, which, now boasts almost 200 bands, orchestras, choruses and other ensembles worldwide.
The band rehearses weekly on Mondays at 11am in Marietta at The Warehouse of the First Presbyterian Church of Marietta. The Warehouse is located at 68 North Marietta Parkway in Marietta. Director Broom invites interested folks to feel free to come and sit in on rehearsals and give it a try for a month. Any guest will see that the band members work hard, produce great music and, in the process, have a lot of fun! Director Broom says that a lot of people say, “But I have not played my instrument for several years!” He wants anyone who is interested to know that many of the members have been in the same situation, putting an instrument aside in some cases for decades. Although the band does require musical experience, when first starting back, everyone in the band understands the challenge of rebuilding physical stamina and technique. Publicity chairman, Frank McLeod, says that he was one of those who had not played in a long time in an organized band. Someone saw publicity about the East Cobb New Horizons Band and emailed it to McLeod. As a result, he joined in late 2010 and encourages anyone who has musical experience to consider this great experience. He says, “It is personally rewarding and fun to make music for people and see their faces light up as the music touches them deeply and, in a lot of cases, brings back fond memories.” The band members create great friendships and, together, experience the sheer fun of making music and giving to the community.
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66 May 2012
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