Majors & Minors

Nothing beats a good pairing. Abbott & Costello. Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire. Tom & Jerry. Batman & Robin. The Lone Ranger & Tonto. Lucy & Desi. Bonnie & Clyde. Adam & Eve. (Although we know how those last two couples panned out.)

HHS band member Cody Schwartz rehearses at HHS for the upcoming Festival of Music combined concert event with the Sun City Concert Band. (Photo by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)

We like pairs because they make for good stories and, like with Simon & Garfunkel, they make for good music.

At 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, another pairing will come together with the Festival of Music, where Huntley High School Bands will meet with the Sun City Concert Band to present their fourth annual combined concert.

The Huntley High School Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony, and Concert Band will each perform selections. The Sun City Concert Band will present two numbers. Huntley High School Concert Band together with the Sun City Concert Band will present three selections, which will total about 150 musicians on stage for the last few numbers, said Bressler.

The program will offer a variety of styles said Sun City Concert Band Director Donna Bressler, who started the program four years ago with the previous band director at HHS.

“We just thought it would be kind of a fun thing for the kids to see that you can keep playing forever,” Bressler said. “You know, don’t sell the horn once you’re out of high school.”

HHS Band Director Nick Konwerski added, “The biggest benefit of the combined concert is the opportunity the Huntley students have to see adults still playing their instruments later on in life. My hope is that the Huntley students see that you don’t have to go into music professionally to still enjoy it as a hobby, no matter if you put the instrument down for thirty years and pick it back up later on.”

Bressler said that the combined concert has grown successfully since its first show, where parents of HHS band members and spouses of Sun City band members predominantly comprised the audience. Now, Bressler said, the audience nearly fills the Huntley High School Performing Arts Center, where the event is held annually, which seats about 600.

HHS band member Jordan Geigle rehearses at HHS. (Photo by Chris LaPelusa/Sun Day)

“We got together with them [HHS] that first time, and it was highly successful,” Bressler said. “We wanted to use it as a fundraiser for the high school band. At that particular time, they were struggling just to have enough money to buy music and [other] things. We thought anything we could do to help them would be good.”

The event is free, but a suggested donation of $5 is gratefully accepted at the door. Last year the donations totaled $1,185, to which the Sun City Concert Band added another $1000 to the total donation to HHS bands. The Sun City Concert Band also presented its first scholarship to HHS Band member Casey Sukel in the amount of $500. This year’s scholarship recipient will be announced at the March 3rd concert.

“The Sun City Concert Band has been extremely generous to the program and the students,” said Konwerski. “We have been able to purchase much needed instruments for the program with their matching donations program, and our students are able to take private lessons with the scholarship program. We are very lucky to have them in our backyard supporting us.”

“It’s one of our charitable focuses,” Bressler said.

Bressler said that camaraderie developed through the two organizations working together, especially because of the age difference, is the most enjoyable experience about the entire event.

“The Sun City Concert Band is excellent to work with. The members and director are very friendly and helpful,” Konwerski said. “We enjoy a great camaraderie and have a wonderful working relationship. I think both bands enjoy seeing the other band’s members enjoying music at a different stage in their life.”

---

---