Looking to toot your own horn? Band drumming up musicians for silver season

In closets, attics and garages, musical instruments are gathering dust.

Many graduates from high school and college, who don’t pursue a music career, hardly ever play again.

The thought began to bother Norman “Rocky” Short 25 years ago.

“Only a small number went on to play in church ensembles,” Short said Friday.

As a band teacher and trombone player, Short decided to strike up his own orchestra.

A quarter of a century ago dozens of people came together and started the Middle Georgia Concert Band.

The volunteers have been entertaining crowds at the Cherry Blossom Festival atop Coleman Hill for Picnic & Pops and during concerts at Porter Auditorium at Wesleyan College.

They’ve played at the Grand Opera House, the Air Force Museum at Robins Air Force Base and at the Hawkinsville Opera House.

Although Short waved the baton for the first 17 years, the band is now conducted by retired U.S. Army Col. Bryan Shelburne, who lead the U.S. Army Band in Washington, D.C., prior to his retirement in 2000.

“Nobody’s paid anything,” Short said, although a $10 yearly dues is collected from members.

As they began rehearsals for the silver season, Short is always looking for a balance between the instruments.

“Last spring, we had five tubas,” he said. “The instrumentation has been pretty good over the years.”

Except for holidays such as Labor Day, the band rehearses each Monday from 7-9 p.m. at the Tattnall Square Academy band room on Trojan Way off Wesleyan Drive in north Macon.

They attract players from all over Middle Georgia, from Perry to Milledgeville to Forsyth and play a variety of music from pop and rock to symphonic classics, he said.

While he’d like to see more clarinet players and percussionists join to round out the group, all musicians are welcome.

More information about the group can be found at middlegeorgiaconcertband.org.

“If folks want to come on, there’s a chair for them,” he said.

This story was originally published September 5, 2017 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Looking to toot your own horn? Band drumming up musicians for silver season."