The Amherst Community Band is searching for leaders ready to step to the podium and conduct an ensemble of nearly 100 musicians for its upcoming season. As a mixed-level, all-ages group known for its free public performances, the band is a local summertime staple.
Selected leaders will be paired with specific performances. The schedule begins with an Independence Day concert on Friday, July 3, at the town fireworks display and includes shows on Saturday, June 27; Saturday, July 25, and Friday, Aug. 15 at Sweetser Park; and a season finale concert on Tuesday, Aug. 18, at the South Amherst Common. The music for each show will be decided in collaboration with the band members and conductors.
Following the departure of the group’s former conductor Tim Anderson, the band’s newly formed board of directors decided to offer an opportunity to community members with musical experience.
“Because we’re in the middle of five colleges, all with extensive music programs, we know there are many potential conductors in the area,” said Amherst Community Band President John Decker in a statement.
Selected conductors will be responsible for leading one to three Monday night rehearsals before taking the podium for a performance. Each will receive a $300 stipend for their time, funded by grants from the Amherst and Massachusetts Cultural Councils.
The ideal guest conductor is someone who understands the nature of a community group, said Judy Gutlerner, a longtime band member who oversees the group’s publicity.
“[We’re looking for] Somebody who will select the kind of music that’s not too easy, but not too challenging that we can’t put it together within a few rehearsals. Somebody who’s sensitive to the fact that it’s music that will be played outdoors for an audience,” she said. “We want it to be the kind of music that the community is going to enjoy and love and be excited about.”
In the same vein, the right person should not be too rigid about their standards or expect that every show has to be as perfect as a professional concert played in a stately concert hall.
“It’s about a community group coming together and putting together the best we can,” Gutlerner said. “We want somebody with a good personality. We don’t want somebody that’s all super serious, with their head stuck in the music. We want somebody who understands it’s summer and it’s fun and it’s music, and we all want to have a good time, for both the musicians and the community.”
The group also maintains a no-audition policy. which means that anyone who wants to join should simply show up to a rehearsal on any Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the George N. Parks Band Building at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Through a partnership with the school, the ensemble can access rehearsal space and equipment for free.
Gutlerner, who plays the E-flat clarinet, first joined the Amherst Community Band more than a decade ago. Back then, the group was much smaller than it is now — about 40 people — and rehearsed in a “dingy” and “creepy” basement space, she said.
However, when Anderson took over, the group moved into its current space, and “suddenly, it started taking off in the community,” Gutlerner said. The group also increased from two concerts each year to several in the summer. Last year, “It became a very important group, not just to us musicians, but to the community as well,” she said.
After this summer, the band wants to select a conductor for its 2027 season. Until then, they’ll focus on bringing joy to the community with their summer shows.
“When you play a concert and you see little kids dancing around, and you see people on tree limbs looking down and waving, and you see family members out there cheering for their neighbors,” Gutlerner said. “I love seeing that — neighbors meeting neighbors and having a wonderful time.”
Applications to become a guest conductor for Amherst Community Band are open until Saturday, April 11. To apply or learn more about the Amherst Community Band, visit amherstband.org.
