Jim Panttaja

On Sunday I attended a performance of the Healdsburg Community Band at the new Gazebo in downtown Healdsburg, California. (Pictures of the event from the Press Democrat) I attended this in the saxophone section where I now rehearse (on those Tuesday nights when I am in town), and perform. The band is 30 years old and accepts any adult or high school student who expresses an interest. Some members have played for years, and some haven’t played in years when they join the group. And some of us move among sections depending on our favorite instrument du Jour. My son played in the group through his high school years and played three or four different instruments in those four years. After ten years playing in the flute and piccolo section, I have now played about four years in the saxophone section.

I enjoy concerts – but I particularly enjoy them from the inside. I once was on a business trip in Amsterdam, and mentioned that I would love to attend a concert at the famous Concertgebouw. One of my hosts told me after lunch that there was a ticket waiting for me that eveing at will call. I asked what it was for – and he didn’t know – and I didn’t care.

When I arrived for the performance, I discovered it was to be Handel’s Messiah. When I walked up to my designated door to go in to the theater, there was a long line of men and women in tuxedos and black dresses. I thought ‘they sure seem to dress up more in Amsterdam’ – I got to the back of the line, and then realized this was the choir. Much to my surprise – and pleasure, my seat was one row behind the choir. Perhaps not the best place to ‘hear’ the piece – but an incredible place to be part of the piece. Every time the conductor queued the tenors I felt like joining in – because he was signaling me. Fortunately I resisted that impulse. But I did get a very different sense of the piece, and a feeling of the energy generated by the conductor and the singers that you would never get ‘out front’.

And it is this same feeling I get in the saxophone section of the Healdsburg Community Band, reacting to the queues of the conductor, noticing the energy of those around me (sometimes anxious over a coming entrance – or over standing to play the piccolo solo in The Stars and Stripes Forever; sometimes looking forward to a favorite riff). I sit there and think about important musicians and people who enjoy music in my life and about my own entrances and favorite parts. And I play my instrument – trying to sound better than I every have – and perhaps better than I ever will.