When Joe Fioretti arrived at the first-ever rehearsal of the Montgomery Community Band, he thought, “I am going to show up, and there’s going to be no one here.”

Yes, the Facebook page he created had generated some interest, but would local musicians really follow through? Maybe, he thought, there would be enough players to form a brass quartet that would grow into a larger ensemble with time.

He needn’t have worried: over the next few minutes, about 50 musicians arrived with instruments in hand.   

No roadblocks

From the time he first started playing trumpet in the fourth grade, Joe Fioretti loved music. He ultimately earned a degree in music education from College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, but he soon learned that “teaching it isn’t exactly playing it,” he says. Instead of teaching music, Joe became a paramedic and worked with an ambulance crew for several years, then transitioned into a career in information technology; however, his love for music never diminished.

Joe played bass guitar with his church band for a while, but he missed playing his trumpet with an organized group. “I didn’t want to play stuff by myself in my house,” he says. He wanted the accountability of being part of an ensemble, and he wanted to be able to  play in concerts. So, he queried several community bands in the area. None of their answers were encouraging: they had enough trumpet players already; they could put him on a waiting list; maybe they could offer him third part. None of these responses sounded good to a man with a degree in music and the ability to hit the high notes.

In late November 2022, Joe had an idea–perhaps there were other people in the rapidly-growing Montgomery area who wanted to be part of a musical ensemble. So, he started a Facebook page, calling it Montgomery Community Band. “I knew we needed a logo,” he says, so he styled one himself by adding a treble clef and a bass clef to the image of the Texas flag. He also generated a Facebook form musicians could fill out if they were interested. Responses began to trickle in.

“All through December, I got one or two submissions on that form every single day,” Joe says. Respondents represented a wide range of musical abilities, from music educators to “I still have a sax I played in 1980.” As interest surged, Joe sought—and received—the blessings of Montgomery Independent School District. “The district was like, ‘Yes, we love it,’” he says. MISD offered the Montgomery High School band room and equipment for rehearsals, as well as the school’s auditorium for concerts. Shortly thereafter, the City of Montgomery’s Economic Development Committee offered a grant. “There were no roadblocks,” Joe says.

Recognizable music

One of the people who responded to Joe’s Facebook post indicated he had conducting experience, so Joe asked him to send a resume. Soon, Todd Burrer joined the Montgomery Community Band as its first director. Like Joe, Todd chose a career outside the music industry, but his musicianship never faltered. He is a member of four ensembles—three as a director and one as a brass player (primarily baritone and trombone). He has been directing the Montgomery Community Band since its first rehearsal on January 15th. When the Postcards team visited a Montgomery Community Band rehearsal in late March, Todd was helping the band put the finishing touches on the music for its inaugural concert on April 23. “That’s getting there,” Todd noted with satisfaction, after a fanfare’s final crescendo. 

“We always want to do music the audience can relate to,” Todd says. “They want something they can enjoy. We are not here to teach the audience about music. We are here to entertain people, to give them a break from their day-to-day lives, and give them something they will recognize.” Todd promises a patriotic theme for the band’s second concert, which will be held at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 25 at the Montgomery High School auditorium. Although he hasn’t chosen all the pieces yet, he says the band will start with the “Star Spangled Banner” and will end with Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Like all Montgomery Community Band concerts, it will be free of charge. (Montgomery Community Band is a 501(c)(3) organization and accepts donations.)

All ages welcome

Members of the new community band range in age from teenagers to octogenarians, and they live throughout the area. Some, like Brittany Knauer, are enjoying playing on a regular basis for the first time in years. Brittany played clarinet in the Montgomery High School Band, but only played periodically after her graduation in 2006. Now a teacher and coach at Montgomery Junior High School, Brittany is busy during the week. When she saw on Facebook that a community band was forming in Montgomery with Sunday night rehearsals, she responded.

“I was shocked when I showed up on the first day and there was a room full of people. They come from all over,” she says, noting that some musicians drive from as far away as Grangerland to rehearse. Brittany is enthusiastic about being a part of the band. She now has a regular practice schedule and, she says, “I have purpose with it.” While some of the musicians had to “dust the cobwebs off” their instruments, she says, they have risen to the challenge. “We are getting better and having fun.”

Some members of the band play in multiple groups, like Jennifer Kirk, who plays trumpet; and her husband, Zach Kirk, a percussionist. The two musicians have been playing in ensembles together the entire 23 years they have been married. Jennifer learned about the formation of the Montgomery Community Band on Facebook and asked Zach if he wanted to join. At first, Zach said he was afraid he’d be overcommitted, but when Jennifer left for the first rehearsal, she asked him, “Are you sure you don’t want to go with me?” Zach decided to “check it out” after all, and the two have been playing in the band ever since. “The music is challenging,” Jennifer says. “The literature is so different from symphony orchestra music. It’s music we haven’t seen in a long time.”

Some of the musicians in the band are still in high school. Others are in various stages of life, and some, like Bill Cox, 86, are nearing life’s finale. Bill played trumpet at his high school in Memphis, Tennessee, and when he was a student at Auburn University. “Wherever he lived, he would find a community band, frequently several,” says his daughter, Cricket Degner. “He has performed with varying-sized groups all over the place.”

Bill lived in Dripping Springs before July 2022, but because he was battling cancer and lived “in the middle of nowhere by himself,” Cricket says, she encouraged him to move to Montgomery County, close to family. To entice Bill, Cricket introduced him to a colleague, Liz Royce, who is a horn player in several musical organizations. After moving to the area, Bill played in two church orchestras, and was excited when Liz told him about the formation of the Montgomery Community Band. Over the next two months, Bill attended every rehearsal.

In late March, doctors told Bill that his cancer had progressed to the point that he might not live through the weekend, but he had his heart set on playing with the band again. Bill’s family made sure he was able to attend the rehearsal on March 26, and apparently, it was just what he needed to bring him joy in his final days. Afterwards, he was in a “fantastic mood,” Cricket says. “He was sitting in the living room eating a hamburger as if he had never been sick.”

Music can be good medicine.