Community Band Is Lots of Fun
Jehan El-Jourbagy, conductor for the Monticello Community Band, talked to the Monticello Kiwanis Club Monday about the beginnings of the community band, and its evolution to the group it is now.
She was assisted in the presentation by other band members and band board members Greg Holder, who plays the trombone, and Mary Camp, who plays the flute. The each attested to how much fun it is to play their instrument as part of a band, and talked about the camaraderie between band members, old and young.
Their program was to promote the Monticello Community Band Christmas concert to be held today, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. at the Courthouse.
Ms. El-Jourbagy said that she began band in middle school, taking under Les Steele who taught her how to play the saxophone. She said she had Mr. Steele all through school until her senior year when a new band director was hired.
She talked about the military style of marching and the corps style of marching, and how she had used one all though school then had to change her senior year. It was good, though, because she went on to play in the Marching Redcoat Band at the University of Georgia, and it used the corps style marching like the new band director had taught.
She said that the current high school band director, Chris Savage, his wife, Kim, who teaches music at the elementary level, and middle school band director Ray Buck, all members of the community band, were in the Redcoat band with her, even though she didn’t know them at the time. She said Mr. Buck was a section leader so she knew of him.
She talked about her time in the Redcoat band which traveled on eight charter buses accompanied by three Ryder trucks. She said marching into all the different stadiums was exciting.
She told how her life then took her to law school and Eugene, Oregon where she became involved in the Eugene Symphonic Band. It met every week, and presented five concerts a year. She learned a lot about the working of a community band from that time.
After returning to Monticello in 2005, one day she and Mrs. Camp’s paths crossed, and Mrs. Camp said, “we need a band.”
Soon after, she ran into someone else who suggested a community band. Then it was born. About 12 people came together in May and decided to create a band, and the first concert was that July. It was pouring down rain in 2007, said Ms. El-Jourbagy, and there were about 10-15 people in the audience.
Back then the band practiced the night before the show, then presented the show.
Now the band has grown. It averages about 35 instruments, and members practice together monthly. All volunteer, no one is paid for anything…they even bought their own matching community band shirts.
Mrs. Camp spoke about how it is exciting to play, and that you meet people and make friends. She said the best thing is it is intergenerational. She said the best flute player in the band lives in Jackson and goes to Georgia College. She talked about the interconnectedness of the band with a lot of family involved.
Mr. Holder echoed Mrs. Camp’s remarks, saying that it is a lot of fun, and the camaraderie is great. He said it’s funny because the kids (high school students in the band) don’t think adults have a sense of humor. So, he said, when one of them says something funny it’s like the youth are afraid to laugh.
He went on to say there are some things you can’t do when you get older, and Mrs. Camp piped up like baseball and football, but you can always pick up a horn, and make music.
