“You don’t have to be a professional to join our band. A lot of our members have had their horns and instruments put away in the closet for 20 years or more,” Frank McLeod said. He has been a band member for 2½ years and is in charge of publicity.
Band members come from all walks of life and from all over the metro Atlanta area. George Broom, a retired high school band director, conducts the band.
“We have retired military officers, retired high school and middle school band directors, retired pastors — just a lot of different walks of life,” the McLeod said.
The band plays a variety of music including big band, classical, Broadway show tunes, marches, pop and jazz. “We play just about every kind imaginable. Our goal is to play once a month,” McLeod said.
New Horizons plays for different organizations such as churches, schools and senior living centers. Their biggest concert was at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta where they played at the church’s annual American Pop Musical Festival.
“We were the featured guest last year, and they like us so much they invited us back again this year,” he said.
The band also recently played at Due West Elementary School. “The music teacher there wanted the students exposed to community band music and what you could do with music,” McLeod said.
“We have a lot of fun with the music. There’s a lot of camaraderie within the group, so we have fun with one another and fun with the music,” he added.
The 70-member band puts out a big sound. “It’s quality music. We work hard. We practice 2½ hours every week to get the quality there,” he said. “We surprise a lot of people when they hear us.”
The band rehearses Mondays from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at The Warehouse, First Presbyterian Church of Marietta, at 68 North Marietta Parkway. New Horizons also has a jazz ensemble led by Carl Merwin.
To learn more, visit www.ecnhb.com or contact Gary Jackson at (770) 345-9294 or ga7jacks@aol.com.
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