MILTON — The members range from ages 15 to 89, and they will present their debut concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the high school’s performing arts center.
About 75 musicians signed on for the band, the first community musical group in some time for Milton and the idea of Brett Hosterman, director of instrumental music at Milton Area High School and this band’s conductor.
Hosterman said he started looking for members in February and was taken with “a wonderful response,” he said Monday. “Much to my surprise, there were as many as 80 people signed on.”
Hosterman attributes the interest to Milton’s long-standing history of support for the arts. Milton was one of the few small towns to support a symphonic community orchestra at one time, he said.
“One thing I noticed is there are a lot of people who live in Milton who play in other community bands,” such as those of Sunbury, Selinsgrove and Williamsport.
“There hasn’t been anything in Milton to participate in,” Hosterman said. “The response is wonderful. (The members are) so happy to have this back in Milton.”
It’s one of the reasons Angella Laubach, an old high school friend of Hosterman’s, signed on.
“I’m a trumpet player, and any chance to play is wonderful, especially for people who are involved with other groups,” she said.
Right now, she plays with her church on Sundays and with orchestras for different springtime high school musicals.
“I’m so glad” for this opportunity, Laubach said.
Hosterman mailed members their music and asked them to arrive prepared for the first rehearsal, which was June 20.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect. Many of these people I didn’t know, so selecting music was challenging,” Hosterman said. Now knowing the group’s caliber, “I can really stretch them, and they sound wonderful. The first rehearsal was a real pleasure”
The pleasure extends to Thursday night when this symphonic band — it has no stringed instruments in it, just wind instruments and percussion — takes the stage playing in a patriotic, Americana theme.
Hosterman would really like to make the band performance a summer tradition.
A $5 donation will be accepted at the door, and proceeds will go to the HandUP and Walk On foundations, both local charities.
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