SEQUIM — Strike up the band once more.
Not long after the band’s concert March 1, 2020, band members packed their instruments away for the better part of 15 months, canceling the remainder of the 2020 season and most 2021 concerts and events.
Now, with COVID pandemic restrictions easing, the band is ready to pick up where it left off. Interested musicians are welcome to join in a rehearsal, set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 14, on the outdoor stage at The James Center for the Performing Arts, 350 N. Blake Ave., just north of Carrie Blake Community Park.
Following rehearsals will be conducted from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. each Wednesday at the same location.
The outdoor setting allows for increased distance between musicians and to take advantage of the outdoor ventilation, band representatives say.
The band is also looking to add more members, particularly musicians who played during high school and beyond, even if it’s been decades since they played. In particular, percussionist and wind musicians are sought.
“The band has not rehearsed since February 2020, so everyone will be a little rusty,” band representative Vicky Blakesley said in a press release this week.
Pre- and post-rehearsal activities will be in Swisher Hall (the normal practice room); all participants are asked to wear masks because the air exchange in the room is limited. In addition, the band asks participants be fully vaccinated (two weeks removed from their final COVID shot).
Music director Tyler Benedict has scheduled a relatively easy concert program so that musicians can successfully be prepared for the first concert, Blakesley said.
The band is prepping for its first 2021 concert, set for 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22, at the The James Center for the Performing Arts. The concert will feature some previous audience favorites and patriotic pieces of music.
The Sequim City Band — not technically connected with the City of Sequim — is an all-volunteer community concert band with two concert seasons: the Concert at the James series held outdoors at the James Center, and the indoor concert series held at either Sequim or Port Angeles High School auditoriums.
The band features about 70 musicians, with 55-65 on stage at any given performance or rehearsal. Current members hail from Sequim, Port Angeles, Carlsborg, Forks, Port Townsend Port Hadlock and Poulsbo.
See sequimcityband.org or email to scb@sequimcity band.org for more information.
