Community band needs players to rehearse at American Legion post
CARMICHAELS – If, at some point in life, you counted yourself among the members of a high school band, took music lessons or are a self-taught musician, Frank Ricco is looking for you.
“It is like riding a bike. It will come back to you,” said Ricco, who is the director of the community band, which rehearses at Carmichaels American Legion Post 400. “We’ve had some really good band directors in this area through the years. I know they taught some excellent musicians out there who aren’t playing their horns today.”
As a retired band director, Ricco said he realizes there are people who may not have touched a horn or played a drum in years, but he said that shouldn’t deter anyone from coming to a rehearsal or joining the community band. The first one for this year is being held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the legion hall located at 400 E. George St. in Carmichaels.
“You don’t have to be a veteran or a member of the American Legion to play in this band,” Ricco said. “Anyone, from anywhere, who wants to play and support our veterans is welcome.”
With a core group of roughly 20 musicians, ranging in age from teens to retirees, Ricco’s small band manages to produce a large sound.
“It is whoever is in town at the time (when) we have a performance scheduled,” he said.
The band’s performance schedule officially begins in May with the Memorial Day remembrance and concludes in December with Wreaths Across America, both of which are held at Laurel Point Cemetery in Carmichaels. In between, there is a concert scheduled for July at Greene Academy with another performance at a Veterans Administration facility in Aspinwall, among other shows.
“Of course, we will be in the Coal Show Parade and playing at the Covered Bridge Festival again this year,” Ricco said.
The primary mission of the community band is to perform in support of the veterans of Post 400, but its other mission is to play in support of the community.
Ricco formerly worked as a band director in Carmichaels Area School District and was an assistant band director at California University of Pennsylvania. This is the sixth year Ricco has directed the community band.
For more information, contact Ricco at 724-966-2331 or attend a rehearsal at the post home. Rehearsals are held the second and fourth Thursday of each month from April through October at 7 p.m. and last approximately an hour and a half.