News and Scrapbook NEWS ARTICLES:
Article in the Dallas Morning News about our Bands
For seniors, band effort a noteworthy success
By keeping in tune with peers, performers stay in touch with past Dallas New Horizons Band members Judy Staser (from left), Gloria Cecil, Shirley Howard and other members of the ensemble practiced recently for a Christmas concert. Dallas Morning News neighborsgo Carrollton Neighbors New Horizons Band Dallas welcomes senior musicians If you venture into the Carrollton Senior Center
any Friday afternoon, you will stumble upon the eclectic sounds of the New Horizons Band
Dallas. The group practices every Friday at the senior
center and welcomes all senior musicians, from beginners to experts. The band is made up
of musicians ages 50 and older, and many havent played an instrument since their
childhood. Music they perform ranges from patriotic, musicals, love songs and
childrens songs. New Horizons Band Dallas includes a concert band
and a dance band, Upswing. Both bands have a busy performance schedule and are in high
demand. They often perform at schools, churches, retirement centers and other events.
Upswings next concert will be Thursday, August 3, at the Richardson Senior Center
for National Night Out. New Horizons Band Dallas is currently 40-members
strong, and is constantly growing. No auditions are required to join, and members must be
available to rehearse on Fridays and perform on weekdays. The band welcomes members from
all over the metroplex. For more information on joining, contact Phil Cook at
972-874-1117. The groups web site is www.nhbdallas.org.
July 2006 Article - Dallas Morning News Photos by RICHARD MICHAEL PRUITT/DMN Carrollton: Some senior band
members hadn't played in 50 years. It's like finding an old friend you haven't seen since high
school and picking up the conversation where it left off.
Bill Schwartz of Dallas plays flute in the New Horizons Band, which meets at the
Carrollton Senior Center on Fridays.
Members of the New Horizons Band are rediscovering their passion for music and
dusting off instruments many haven't played in 50 years.
The band, made up of musicians over 50 years old from all over the Dallas area, meets
at the Carrollton Senior Center every Friday afternoon for rehearsals to fine-tune their
skills. The 40-member New Horizons Band, which is part of the national organization New
Horizons Music Association, includes brass, wind, reed and percussion instruments. The
band plays traditional marches, patriotic tunes, collections from Broadway musicals, love
songs and popular music.
They perform at schools, retirement centers, conventions, hospitals and churches. "We play anywhere people want to hear a band," said Jim Jecker, 71, of
Dallas, the president of the concert band, who played trombone in high school but was
recruited to play the tuba for New Horizons.
"We want to get the word out about the band and encourage membership so we can
fill out the instruments. We need more tuba, oboe, bassoon and percussion players,"
he said. The 12-member Upswing dance band plays rock, swing, jazz and Latin music from the Big
Band era.
"We pride ourselves in recreating the Big Band sound of the '30s, '40s and '50s,
like Glenn Miller, Count Basie and Duke Ellington," said Upswing manager Wes Wilson,
73, of Irving, who plays trumpet for both groups.
"I played trumpet back in the old days, and it lay in the closet for about 50
years. I brushed it off and went back to work," Mr. Wilson said. June Stoskopf, a 70-year-old retired guidance counselor who moved to Rowlett two years
ago, plays drums for both bands.
She played the snare drum through high school in the early 1950s and didn't play again
until 1999 when she joined the New Horizons Band where she lived in Iowa.
"I was kind of scared, but I wanted to do it. It doesn't take long for it to come
back to you. It's like riding a bike," Mrs. Stoskopf said.
She even had a chance to go back in time, so to speak, when a friend who played bass
drum with her in high school visited and sat in on a practice session.
"We got her up there with us, and it was like we went back 50 years. I told her,
'Marge, you had your foot cocked out just like you did back then.' It makes all those
years just dwindle away," she said. Lynda Stringer is a North Richland Hills-based freelance writer.
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