After almost two years of not being able to play together at their regular summer gigs at Harmony Park, the Webster Village Band is back together and performing beautiful music again.
Like pretty much everything else, in the last two years the pandemic put a damper on the Village Band’s ability to perform publicly, or even rehearse. Not only were their Thursday evening concerts at the Harmony Park bandshell cancelled entirely, they weren’t even allowed into the schools to hold rehearsals.
Last summer, as the pandemic began to wane, the band was able to rehearse again at the Harmony Park bandshell on Phillips Rd., and towards the end of last year actually had two performances, one at the park and another at the Village of Webster’s 9/11 memorial ceremony.
“When we got together the first time last year, you could tell the people were hungry to play,” said conductor Tom Indiano. “It was an awesome, awesome experience.”
When they weren’t able to meet, especially over the winter months when they couldn’t hold outdoor rehearsals, “it was difficult,” Indiano said. “People want to play music.” So they did their best to stay busy in other ways, rehearsing at home, having social hours on Zoom, and finding creative ways to continue doing what they love doing most — making music.
Last December, for example, they pulled together a virtual, multi-instrumental performance of Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson, which you can see below.
“We sent out parts,” Indiano remembered, and “everyone did a recording of it.” Then the individual parts were collected and expertly compiled into one seamless performance by one of the band’s members.
The piece was extremely well received, even attracting the attention of Anderson’s family, who thanked the band for the beautiful rendition.
Only a few months ago was the band finally allowed to hold their rehearsals in the schools again. So the season got off to a late start, but the Village Band is definitely back, albeit with a few changes.
Right now, “We’re just trying to get our feet wet,” Indiano said. “There’re some new tunes we’re working on.”
“We lost some people in that two-year span,” he added. “We’re a little smaller, but we’re pretty strong and there’s new blood coming in.”
“The future looks very good.”
The Webster Village Band plays on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. at Harmony Park, on Phillips Rd., south of Ridge. The next two concerts are Aug. 11 and Aug. 25. They’re free and open to the community. Bring a lawn chair and blanket and your own refreshments, then sit back and enjoy some beautiful music.
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(posted 7/16/2022)
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