The Lima Area Concert Band
LIMA — “We’ve had people who have been coming to our concerts for many, many years,” said Chad Higgins, president, who has been with the Lima Area Concert Band (LACB) for 14 years. “They’re clapping and having a fun time.”
The Sousa Salute performance draws about 300 to 400 people annually to the Veterans Memorial Civic Center at 7 Town Square, and typically is the LACB’s largest ticketed concert crowd of the year.
John Philip Sousa was the director of the United States Marine Corps Band from 1880 to 192 and then traveled around the world with his own band. The Sousa band came to Lima in 1923 and performed at Memorial Hall. Schools closed in honor of the event so that students could attend. Sousa’s performance consisted of classical, popular, instrumental, and vocal music. Most famously, though, Sousa was known for his marches, and he was given the nickname, “The March King.”
This year’s Sousa Salute, directed by John R. Hill, will feature two solo performances.
Summer Aebker will perform a voice solo. Aebker holds a doctorate in music and was an associate instructor at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
Erin Helgeson Torres will perform a flute solo. Helgeson is a visiting assistant professor of music at Ohio Northern University where she teaches flute and woodwind methods along with music history. She also coaches a flute choir and small ensemble groups. Torres released her debut album, “Crosswind,” in 2019.
One individual from each area school is selected, usually a senior, for a Sousa award. The LACB invites all the winners to the annual Sousa Concert. Typically, between three and 10 students accept the invitation. They are individually recognized during the concert and tell the audience about their plans after high school, and then join the LACB to play one of Sousa’s marches.
Gail F. Woolley established the LACB in 1970 and a $1,000 scholarship, funded by donations, is given out in his honor during the concert. Each year, students audition for the award. Three or four people listen to all the auditions and select a winner, explained Higgins.
Tickets to the Sousa Concert are $15 each. All students, including college students, are admitted free of charge.
The LACB will also perform three Community Concerts this summer that are free and open to the public:
The Star-Spangled Spectacular performance will begin at 8 p.m. Monday, July 4 in Faurot Park, Lima.
The Summer Moon Festival performance will start at 7 p.m. July 17 in the Performing Arts Center in Wapakoneta High School, Wapakoneta.
Concerts in the Park will begin at 7 p.m. August 14 in Faurot Park, Lima.
The LACB is a nonprofit organization comprised of volunteers from around northwest Ohio, with members hailing from Lima, Spencerville, Celina, St. Marys and Bowling Green. This year an exchange student from Germany will also be also performing.
Some LACB members are retired band or choir directors. However, individuals who possess instrument expertise, but lack professional experience, may also apply to join.
Higgins explained that there are no auditions to join the LACB (except for soloists), but there is an application. If the band needs that instrument, and the applicant shows they have considerable experience, by listing the places they have played and the organizations they have belonged to, chances are they will be selected. Higgins’ son, for example, played saxophone in high school and college and then joined the LACB.
As part of the LACB’s interest in continuing to draw larger and larger crowds, they are inviting strong soloists, but they are also appealing to younger generations, both as listeners and as participants.
When young children attend the concerts at an early age, parents can teach them the different parts of a concert band: the brass, woodwind, and percussion sections. (A concert band lacks the strings section found in a symphonic band). Kids can hear and learn about diverse types of instruments found in each section like drums, flute, and trombone. When kids begin playing an instrument in school around fifth or sixth grade, they can learn responsibility by learning to follow a routine. At around this time, attending a LACB concert enables them to hear people who have played for years, giving them something to aim for as a reward for their diligence, said Higgins.
Most importantly, Higgins said, being a member of the LACB means being among “a community of friends who have like-minded interests,” who socialize during the year, starting with preparatory rehearsals in March and lasting until the banquet at the end of the concert season.
