The Solon Community Band will be holding their annual winter concert this Sunday, Feb. 12  at 3 p.m. at the Solon Center for the Arts.

Terry Maxson, the Solon Community Band director, believes that the selection of music at this concert has something everyone will enjoy. The band is premiering a piece from Belgium, as well as performing highlights from Harry Potter by John Williams.

“I think the variety of music will interest people,” he said “There’s something for everybody and just a good light afternoon of music to get out of cold weather here in Solon in the winter.”

The Solon Community Band holds a winter concert every year, as well as playing several concerts over the summer and participating in Solon’s Fourth of July festivities and Home Days.

Percussion section member Mike Mayer thinks that Solon residents will enjoy seeing familiar faces on stage.

“Many people in the band and audience know each other because we’re mostly all from Solon,” Mayer said. “So it’s fun to see people you know who are watching, and fun for the audience to watch their friends play. Watching me drop my drumsticks will be interesting too.”

The Solon Community Band was formed in February 2015 by Maxson, Jody Halley and Solon Schools Band teacher, Rob Luce. Halley and Luce act as Solon Community Band president and vice president respectively

“I have been involved with the Strongsville Community Band for years, as that is where I went to school, and continued when we moved to Solon,” Halley said. “I was looking for something to get involved with to continue playing in Solon and heard there might be an interest in a community band in Solon.”

Halley investigated with the Strongsville Community Band directors to find out what it would take to start a similar band in Solon.

“I did talk with the director and band trustees in Strongsville to hear how they started their band,” she said. “I did some research on other community bands, and I talked with community members and found a common interest with Luce and Maxson. The three of us met and came up with a board of trustees and things moved quickly from there.”

Luce felt similarly about bringing playing music back into his life outside of teaching.

“I missed playing in a band and knew that there were others in the community who felt the same,” Luce said.

Mayer and his daughter Laura, SHS marching band president, joined Solon Community Band for its inaugural season. Mayer originally signed up to play tenor saxophone, but switched to percussion at Luce’s request, playing instruments such as the bass drum, snare drum, drum set and timpani as well as any additional “noise makers” the band needs.

“My daughter has long surpassed me musically, so I figured it was time to up my game,” Mike Mayer said. “The Solon Community Band is a place where I can learn and perform on instruments I don’t normally play. My ‘real’ instrument is tenor saxophone, which I played through high school. I picked up drums on my own in high school, and kept it up with it through college [in the] OSU Marching Band [playing]  bass drum, and I’m still going.  And getting more deaf.  Music is addictive.”

Maxson stressed that anyone would enjoy being a part of Solon Community Band, and that his favorite part of directing the band is meeting new people.

“I think anyone [would enjoy participating in Solon Community Band],” he said. “[Especially] people who have some type of a tie or a connection to Solon, and I think it’s especially interesting for people that enjoyed playing in high school, or college perhaps and haven’t had a chance to play for a while. I think the people [are my favorite part,] we’re just really fortunate to have great people within the group itself. A lot of talent, and so it’s a lot of fun to get back playing music again.”

Mayer added that the band includes musicians of all ages.

“We have had people from seventh and eighth grade up through well into their golden years still playing and having loads of fun,” Mayer said. “Even if you [haven’t] played your instrument in years, blow the dust off and give us a try (that’s what most of us did!). Solon Community Band is a terrific way to get yourself back onto the musical highway with the rest of us.”

Mayer furthered that Maxson makes participating in the band very entertaining, and that many people put in a lot of time behind the scenes to make Solon Community Band possible. He also thanks the SHS music staff for allowing them to use rehearsal space and borrow percussion instruments.   

“[Maxson] keeps it fresh and helps us pull everything together to make our performances enjoyable. He’s always smiling and encouraging, and that’s what makes it fun.  There’s a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes, so thanks to Halley, Luce, Matt Liebson, Don  Holub, Mike Bamfield and board members Lisa Davies, Clare Gleeson and Amy Rothenfeld.”

Tickets to the winter concert are free, but must be reserved at solonarts.org with a limit of five tickets per household. To join Solon Community Band, get more information or donate, visit soloncommunityband.com, or find Solon Community Band on Facebook.