HJ Crosby Community Band Camp Sept. 13-15

DEXTER — With hints of autumn in the air, the temperatures cooler and the days shorter, our thoughts turn to … the Harold J. Crosby Community Band Camp. This year’s camp, the fourth annual, will run from Sept. 13-15 at the Ridge View Community School.

Band Camp 2019 will continue the tradition of “celebrating composers and arrangers of Maine,” to include Dexter’s own Harold Josiah Crosby, Heywood S. Jones, and newly discovered this year, Frank Edwin Churchill, a composer from Rumford who wrote most of the music for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and other Disney favorites.

Master Sgt.
Sam Woodhead

This year’s guest conductor will be Master Sgt. Sam Woodhead, principal trombonist for the U.S. Army Band of Washington, D.C. Pershing’s Own. Woodhead grew up in Northport and holds a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Southern Maine. Additionally, he holds a master’s degree from Yale University and a doctorate from the University of Maryland. Besides conducting the band and performing a solo with the band, Woodhead will be running workshops for the music departments at Nokomis Regional High School and SAD 4 schools in Guilford before the start of Band Camp 2019, serving as a motivational speaker and trombonist for these school districts.

The camp will culminate with a public concert at the Ridge View Community School on Sunday, Sep 15 at 1:30 p.m., to highlight the work of the musicians attending the camp. In addition to local musicians from the Harold J. Crosby Band and Sebasticook Band, the band will be comprised of musicians from community bands throughout Maine and New England. This cabaret style concert is free and refreshments will be provided.

Mark your calendars and make plans to attend this free event, continuing this autumn tradition and celebrating the season with the Harold J. Crosby Community Band Camp 2019. For more information about this camp or the concert, please call 924-6235.