CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — More than one hundred years ago, a crowd gathered on the University of Illinois Main Quad for a Summer Band Twilight Concert. Women in white dresses and men in suits sat on the grass to listen or in one of the cars lining the east side of the Quad.
There has been a similar scene each summer since 1911, although it now takes place without the long dresses and suits and the cars parked alongside the Quad.
The Summer Band’s Twilight Concerts are a link between the band program and the community, offering free outdoor concerts, as well as an opportunity for community members to perform alongside current students and band alumni.
The Summer Band concerts are scheduled for 7 p.m. June 29 and July 27 on the U. of I. Main Quad.
“Summer Band has always included a wide range of experience, age and connection with Illinois,” said Barry Houser, the director of the Marching Illini and the athletic bands who will conduct the first of this summer’s concerts. He said the Summer Band has about 90 musicians, including high school students and retirees.
“Everybody that’s there wants to be there. There’s a range of ages, from young students all the way up,” said Ann Small of Champaign, who has been playing oboe and English horn with the Summer Band for four or five years. “It’s fun to be able to continue to play good music with good directors.”
Small was in the wind symphony while a U. of I. education student, but later gave up playing music to accompany her husband – U. of I. men’s golf coach Mike Small – on golf tours. She got back into playing with a band several years ago when conductor Jack Ranney urged her to join the Parkland College orchestra. Small now plays in three Parkland ensembles during the school year and the Summer Band during the summer.
“I love it. I didn’t realize how much I missed playing all those years,” Small said. “When I walk back into Harding Band Building, it brings back all the memories of being in school.”
She enjoys reconnecting with regular band members each summer and also learning from them. She sits next to a young man who is a current U. of I. student and a talented oboe player.
“I enjoy listening and learning just by how he’s playing and his phrasing. I pick up different things listening to him. It’s nice to be able to play next to someone who is young and studying the instrument right now,” she said.
She also enjoys playing with different directors, as does Rich Schroeder, a clarinet player from LeRoy.
Schroeder, a U. of I. alumnus with a degree in accountancy, began playing in a municipal band in Farmer City as a youngster, and later in a summer band in Jerseyville. He now plays in a community band in Bloomington-Normal that performs six concerts each summer, as well as the U. of I. Summer Band.
“Summer Bands are a much different experience,” Schroeder said. “We get different conductors each year, and some of them are exceptionally good. Barry (Houser) is close to the top of the list. Personally, I want to play for someone new every year. I have learned what I expect in a conductor and appreciate what they do well.”
