Strike up the Band> Ellsworth ensemble entertains residents with weekly concerts

It’s Wednesday; in the evening, and if your car window is rolled down and your foot is tapping you must be within tuba distance of City Hall, where the Ellsworth Concert Band has begun another season of weekly concerts through the summer.

Since the mid-’50s, with a few breaks, the band has performed in front of City Hall to the delight of residents and visitors from away who fill the parking lot to listen to the music. And it’s the kind of music that attracts both young and old and to the band itself.

“The music is so good,” said Carl Gray, a trombone player who has played in the band since it was formed. “That’s why they come. And it’s very convenient. They can sit there and open your car windows. Just like a drive-in movie. And it doesn’t cost anything.”

The Ellsworth Concert Band got its start in the mid-’50s after several attempts to organize a band. It was just a small group of music lovers, all amateurs, Gray said. The band was run differently then, he said.

“At that time, the number of amateurs was limited; we didn’t keep anyone out, there just weren’t enough amateurs to put together a band like that,” he said. “So we paid all the first chair players and the conductor, then, anyone else who wanted to come in and play was welcome.”

John Miraglia, an educator in the public school system in Ellsworth, was the first conductor back then, according to Gray. There were a string of conductors, including Claude Monteux, son of the famed conductor Pierre Monteux, leading down to Ed Michaud, a teacher in the public school system on Mount Desert Island. The band also has guest conductors occasionally as it did for its first performance of the season this year at the Union River Harbor Days in Ellsworth.

The band has grown some since its beginnings, when they rarely had more than 25 musicians performing. The band for the holiday concert boasted about 30 musicians, and for the first Wednesday night concert, however, there were close to 60 performers. That’s quite a crowd, according to Gray.

“It gets a little crowded up there,” he said, noting that the slide on his trombone needs somewhere to go.

Although the conductor is the only one who gets paid these days, the open- door policy is still a part of the band operation. The band includes volunteer members from all over the area and even some from out of state. There are teachers, a minister, a retired lieutenant colonel, nurses, a local radio personality. There’s one obstetrician from out of state who plans his vacation so he can make most of the concerts during the six-week series.

It’s not unusual to see members of the same family playing together in the band. Margaret Jordan, the president of the band organization who started playing when she was in the seventh grade, also played along with her two sons when they were younger.

“We have students who are starting the sixth or seventh grade right through to 80-year-olds,” said Jordan. “We’re like one big family; we’re all one community. The band really does have a good deal of community spirit. We have more fun than the audience.”

Despite the disparity in ages, Jordan said, there really is no generation gap.

“Music is the universal language,” she said. “Whether they’re students who are twelve or older members, they’re all playing music and they’re all speaking the same language.”

The band’s repertoire helps to foster that camaraderie, Jordan added, offering standard band selections and marches, as well as modern-day tunes such as songs from “The Little Mermaid” and “The Lion King.”

The band tries to reach out to the younger members of the audience during a regular children’s night each year when the youngsters are invited to come up and stand in a section of the band. They also get to play a mystery tune game with prizes going to those who can identify the song.

The prizes are donated by local businesses, a fact that Jordan said adds to the community nature of the band organization. The band receives direct funding from the city, but it also receives strong support from the local merchants, banks and restaurants, she said.

The local restaurants help put on a band appreciation night each year, which includes a big feed and gives the band members chance to socialize with each other, something they don’t always get a chance to do when they’re practicing and performing.

That kind of support is important, according to Jordan, and it shows that the city values the band.

“It’s really a small town, small community thing,” she said. “I think it’s important to have this type of activity for citizens and also involving citizens. It’s a recreational activity; it something for the community not just to hear, but to participate in if they care to.”

And it’s that sense of community that continues to draw people to the concerts, invariably filling the city hall parking lot.

“It’s comfortable,” Jordan said. “You can go, even if you have your jammies on. You don’t have to dress up to listen to the music.”

The band rehearses each Wednesday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and after a half-hour break, the concerts begin at 8 p.m. and last about an hour.