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Jan 24th, 2025 - 11:08:49 |
Bleckley County Community Band is forming! A community band in Bleckley County, you might ask. What is a community Band? Bringing a community band to Bleckley County is the brainchild of Chuck Fulton, a newly arrived and retired resident of Cochran. A life-changing move has its challenges and sacrifices, and music is one of them. Arriving from Kingsland, Georgia, Chuck was a Baritone player for the Camden Community Band. The band was comprised of educators, high school and college level musicians who performed at various community events like the St. Mary’s Christmas tree lighting, the Fourth of July Festival and Rock Shrimp Festival.
They also sought to introduce music to local children by sponsoring a “Petting Zoo” event where the instruments were brought to the kid’s level for a hands-on experience followed by a brief concert. The opportunities to perform provides its participants with a group to exercise their skills and passion for their instrument and music.
Other advantages of a community band are afforded to the junior and high school music students in the area by providing the younger musicians a mentoring experience with more seasoned musicians. The music student will be exposed to techniques and skills band directors do not have time to convey/teach. Most importantly, bands provide the opportunity for fellowship. There are precious few high school band members who cannot relate the fond memories and friendships created in the band experience.
The forming committee for the Bleckley Community Band is comprised of two educators and one novice musician, Sarah Rosemann, Metro Narcisi and Chuck Fulton. Sarah attended Bleckley County High School after which she attended Lee University where she received a bachelor’s degree in music performance. She went on to earn a master’s degree in music theory from Louisiana State University (LSU). In addition, she attended Eastman School of Music and went to Paris where she studied contemporary/modern music. She is currently the Director of Music for Bleckley County Schools and is residing in Cochran. Metro is an accomplished Saxophonist and retired Band Director from the State of Rhode Island. He recently moved to Cochran and has resumed teaching as a Choral Director for Sumter County High School. Metro’s performances outside of the classroom include notable groups such Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemmons and jazz performances with Jon Faddis and Marvin Stamm. Chuck is a recently retired Electronics Technician and Veteran of the United States Navy. His music experience includes four years in the Azusa High School Jazz, Symphonic and Marching Bands, the 1976 Anaheim Kingsmen Drum and Bugle Corps and 5 years with the Camden Community Band.
The Bleckley County Community Band will be meeting for the first time in the Bleckley County High School Band room at 7 p.m. on February 13, 2025. They are asking that all band musicians of all skill levels, experience and duration of musical hiatus bring their instruments no matter the condition. On the subject of instruments, if your instrument was provided by the school you attended and you don’t own one, attend anyway. They need to discover who is interested so They can explore options to remedy this situation. They want everyone to know this is an intimidating idea and that our musical skills aren’t what they were when we performed last. But the opportunity to perform, establish fellowships, renew old memories and the create new memories is the goal.
So, pull your instrument out of your closet or attic, blow the dust off, maybe even throw some oil on the valves, mark your calendars to join them. If after introductions and formalities they have time, they want to try a number or two before they wrap up for the evening. For any questions, the band can be reached at bleckleycommunityband@gmail.com and on Facebook: Bleckley County Community Band.
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by BleckleyProgess.com
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