Stray sounds and notes filled the air in First Congregational Church in Turners Falls on a late November night as members of the Montague Community Band tuned instruments before a rehearsal.
The room was packed with musicians chatting happily, while director Hannah Smeltz was preparing the first song. The band is celebrating 125 years by performing a holiday-themed concert on Saturday, Dec.3, at 3 p.m. at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls.
As the rehearsal begins, the group passes around a card that Smeltz explains is for a former member who recently lost his wife.
A voice from the back of the room pipes up and says he would still be in the band if his eyes were better and he could read the music.
That’s indicative of how the organization feels from the outside looking in, with the “community” in Montague Community Band emphasized.
Though the music is important, and playing to high standards is something the group cares about, the band would be much less of an emphasis in its members’ lives if not for the camaraderie.
The concert is more than a way to get the town in the holiday spirit. It’s a way for the band to say “thank you” to Montague for its support. The band also plays in the gazebo at Peskeomskut Park during the summer months.
The band has existed in varying styles since 1892. It was started by six beginner musicians who called themesleves the Germania Cornet Band.
Seven years later, in 1897, the Montague Paper Company organized the Papermakers band. In time, the two bands merged, creating the Turners Falls Military Band in 1902, according to the band’s archives.
In it’s current form, it is a traditional style of band with brass and woodwind instruments.
The numbers fluctuate during summer performances, but the concert will feature 40 members who not only come from Montague, but from all over the Pioneer Valley.
Most are passionate about music, but pursued different careers. A community band is a way for them to keep making music, they say.
Susie and Harry Sharbaugh have been in the band together for 30 years. The couple has musical beginnings — Harry first saw Susie in a choral concert and recognized her as a nurse at the hospital where he was a medical student.
Since then, music has been part of the couple’s connection. Susie purchased the vintage, refurbished baritone saxophone Harry now plays.
She had played clarinet, but began taking French horn lessons in her mid-30s to learn a new instrument.
Susie saw advertisements for the band in the newspaper all those years ago, and that’s how the couple became involved in the band.
“It just makes you feel good to be playing with other people,” Susie said.
For those who have been in the band for decades, like the Sharbaughs, the connection and friendship are often key ingredients in keeping people coming back.
“It’s kind of a family, especially the older ones that have been there for so many years,” she said.
Members like Sue Corey — she joined the band when she was 15 years old — have been involved for more than 50 years.
Corey said it’s partially a social connection, but partially about continuing to make music with others after high school or college.
“These community bands, they allow that, they give a place for people to come and play,” she said.
During the concert on Saturday, the group will play an assortment of holiday and Christmas music. The band will perform “The Night Before Christmas,” with Nick Danjer from WHAI as narrator.
For Harry Sharbaugh, the fact that the annual concert is celebrating 125 years is just the “cherry on top.” He said the experience itself, of coming together to make music as a group, is thrilling.
“When you’re playing, you’re in the middle of all this sound and it’s really quite exciting,” he said.
Smeltz agrees.
“I think that there is a kind of magic when people come together to create something that is greater than the sum of its parts, and 42 people have traveled from all over the region, given up their evenings to rehearsals, and practiced their parts at home, because they feel it, too,” she said.
For her, a community band has a way of benefiting its participants and lifting the community through free music in public places. Smeltz said she has taught a lot of students to play music, and few students go on to be professional musicians.
“However, every single one of my students could go on to be part of community music organizations, which can enrich their lives, their communities and the world,” she said.
Sharbaugh said there’s such value in being part of something that has lasted so long.
“The amazing thing is that we’ve been in existence in different configurations, but it’s the same organization, still plodding along,” he said.
The Montague Community Band will play at the Shea Theater on Avenue A in Turners Falls on Dec. 3. The concert begins at 3 p.m., and is free and open to the public.
Reach Miranda Davis at 413-772-0261 ext. 280 or mdavis@recorder.com