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Lancaster Community Band, Ohio State School for Blind Marching Band to Offer Concert at Lancaster Campus
By Jennifer LaRue
Feb 12, 2010
The only blind marching band in the world and the Lancaster Community Band will present concerts at Ohio University Lancaster Campus, 1570 Granville Pike (Rt. 37 N), on Tuesday, March 2, beginning at 7 p.m.
The Ohio State School for the Blind Marching Band will take the stage in Wagner Theatre and offer selections from their performance in the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA, where they were not only the first marching band of visually impaired students, they were the smallest band in the 121-year history of the parade.
The Lancaster Community Band, formed nearly 16 years ago, averages at least 15 appearances annually at indoor and outdoor concerts. The 55 members perform as a traditional concert band, with a repertoire that includes concert and military marches, overtures, show tunes and novelty pieces.
Under the direction of Dan Kelley, who has been blind since birth, the Ohio State School for the Blind Marching Band members are assisted in parade marching and drills by volunteers. On the field they perform their signature Braille ‘Ohio’ to Le Regiment.
Kelley and co-director Carol Agler hope other band directors will adopt their methods, enabling visually impaired students to realize their musical potential.
Judy Rehrer directs the Lancaster Community Band and the Summer Youth Band. She teaches instrumental music at St. Bernadette Elementary and William V. Fisher Catholic High School. The Lancaster Community Band is affiliated with the Association of Concert Bands, an international organization dedicated to the preservation and the awareness of the importance of keeping the adult community band tradition alive. MORE
In celebration of Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month (March), The Zone Catering/Fairfield Industries, Inc. will host a reception for band members and the public at 6:30 p.m. in the theatre lobby. The Wilkes Gallery for the Visual Arts also will be open for anyone who wishes to view a mixed media exhibit by Blue Shoe Arts, also part of Fairfield Industries, Inc. The show features outsider art and folk art created by artists with disabilities.
The community is invited to the free concerts and the art exhibit. There will be a donation station in the lobby for guests who wish to assist the bands with their expenses.
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