WEEKEND: Sequim City Band fetes decade of James Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday

SEQUIM — From John Philip Sousa’s marches to John Lennon’s rock ’n’ roll, music has poured forth here for a decade now.

This weekend, the James Center for the Performing Arts ­— aka “the bandshell” — will have a grand birthday party with the Sequim City Band, the organization that got the venue built. The 60-player ensemble’s concert, titled “A Decade with the James Center,” will be free to the public at 3 p.m. Sunday.

This first Sequim City Band show of the season will showcase an evolved lineup, promises longtime member Patsy Mattingley.

“We’ve morphed,” she said; if you haven’t heard the band lately, come check us out.

The band has a relatively new director: Tyler Benedict, who succeeded Sanford Feibus about two years ago. Benedict has sought to expand the group on many levels. A Port Angeles native who plays tuba and trombone in the Port Angeles Symphony as well as the Olympic Express Big Band, Benedict looks for new music and new musicians, be they high school students or retired people picking up their instruments again.

Teen trombonists Hannah Howell and Bryce Wood are among the band’s youngest members; they play alongside piccolo player Mattingley, trumpeter Cheryl Smoker, clarinetist Jan Proebstel and alto saxophonist Bobbie Usselman, who have been with the band for 15 years or more.

Everybody’s got to be nimble, what with fresh material continually added to the repertoire.

“We have 11 new pieces of music every month,” said Mattingley. “Tyler is pushing us,” to play music that is more challenging than ever.

The band’s numbers are up, Mattingley said. Players come from across the North Olympic Peninsula, from Port Angeles, Chimacum and Quilcene. The trumpet section has a new addition: Randy Stillwell, a retired professional musician.

“He contacted me,” said a pleased Benedict. “He’s a great player.”

As a venue, the James Center is no slouch. Michael Yantis, the acoustical consultant who was part of the design team, is among the foremost in the country, Mattingley said.

“Acoustically, it is a very, very nice facility, and there aren’t many of those around,” she said.

Besides the Sequim City Band’s spring and summer concerts, the past 10 years have seen free, live music all over the spectrum.

The city’s Music in the Park series brings bluegrass, jazz, rock and swing ensembles from late June through August, and the Lavender Weekend puts another set of bands on the stage in July. One memorable Lavender Festival event took place in 2010 when Creme Tangerine, the Beatles tribute band from Seattle, drew a crowd of about 1,000.

Another unusual thing about the James Center was its beginning. The Sequim City Band received a donation of $600,000 to build the stage and the adjacent Swisher Hall, which the band uses for weekly rehearsals.

No drawn-out fundraising campaign was needed.

“James is one of the donor’s names,” Mattingley said. But this individual, who lives in Sequim, still chooses to remain anonymous.

When the center was finished in early 2005, the band donated it to the city of Sequim, which manages it. Groups wanting to reserve it for events contact the Sequim Planning Department at 360-683-4908.

Mattingley, for one, wants to see the James Center busier.

“When the band built the facility,” she said, “we plumbed and put electricity in for almost any need.

“I’d like to see Shakespeare in the park, poetry readings, all manner of things,” to turn the center into a venue that draws performers and audiences from across the region.

As for the Sequim City Band, this summer will bring the “Magnificent Fourth” concert at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 4, plus two more shows on Sunday, Aug. 9, and Sunday, Sept. 13. Information awaits at SequimCityBand.org.

The band plays at the James Center about once a month from May to September, rain or shine, for free and for the locals. Sure, visitors come to the concerts, but most of the audience are regular customers.

Benedict, for his part, urges community members to come out and experience live music.

“We’ve got this one-of-a-kind venue,” he said. “And we love to play.”