MADISON – The Madison Community Band (MCB) kicks off its 30th anniversary celebration with “An American Spring” on Tuesday, April 4, at 7 p.m. The concert at Grace United Methodist Church, 2113 Old Monrovia Road, will be the band’s eighth annual Spring Concert and its first performance of 2023.

The concert program will feature performances drawn from America’s vast musical heritage of folk songs, marches, symphonies, immigrant influences, popular tunes, and more. The band will present timeless music created by Aaron Copland, Percy Grainger, Charles Ives, Joseph Wilcox Jenkins, Clare Grundman, and Frank Ticheli.

“Even though we’ll be indoors, we want the audience to experience an April day on the town green, filled with people and the sound of music on the breeze,” said band announcer Bryan Cobb. “We also want to give them a taste of the rich and varied legacy of American music.”

The Madison Community Band formed in 1993 with 15 members. “The initial group played for a local dinner theater and wanted to stay together,” said music director and conductor Dave Ryan. A Madison resident, Ryan has served the band in those roles for its entire existence. The band has been a labor of love for him and an outlet for his passion for music.

Thirty years on, more than 65 members perform with the band, and more than 650 musicians have passed through its ranks. Students, retirees, and people from all walks of life comprise the band, all volunteer musicians who love to perform. “MCB embodies the tradition of “town bands” that have been a part of American life since its earliest days,” said Cobb.

The band will celebrate its 30th anniversary with multiple performances in 2023. After the Spring Concert, work begins on “summer music” for concerts at Fayetteville’s Stone Bridge Park and Grace UMC. About these performances, Ryan noted that audiences “will be treated to a true pops-in-the-park concert such as folks have been enjoying for over 200 years.”

The band will take a special trip to Chattanooga on May 20 to perform outdoors at the Tennessee Aquarium, and it will take part in Madison’s Memorial Day Commemoration on May 29 at 11 a.m. Plans are also in the works for a joint concert with the Decatur Youth Symphony later this year.

Towards the end of the year, Christmas concerts at Fayetteville’s Host of Christmas Past and Grace UMC will occupy the band’s time and efforts. “The band really enjoys performing Christmas music,” said Ryan. These popular seasonal concerts will bring a merry finale to the band’s 30th anniversary year.

To learn more about the Madison Community Band and its upcoming events, you can visit them on the Web at www.m-c-b.org or on Facebook.