I really appreciate a good conductor, and I think that most of the ones I've played with throughout my life have ranged from "adequate" to "excellent". When they slip below adequacy, I start to get really irritated and have left bands simply for that reason. On the other hand, there is a huge range of community bands in terms of the skills, backgrounds, goals, and habits of the people in them. Often they're eclectic collections of the retired, the elderly, the quite young (middle school or high school), the hearing impaired, academics, people who have demanding jobs, and the occasional psychotic.
Some of my favorites over the years:
- An entire percussion section that's hard of hearing and can't keep a single tempo and beat.
- The retired IBM mid-level manager and low brass player who thought that everyone should do what he told them to (that had been his career for 30 years, or so he felt).
- An entire horn section that couldn't make entrances or play in tune (maybe this isn't so unusual).
- A fantastic euphonium player who was a senior American Airlines pilot and yet made almost every band rehearsal (and certainly every one he could).
- All the people who want to "just play through it" and "not spend time with all this tuning and rehearsal".
- A conductor whose approach was to "play through it" once, pronounce it "fantastic", and move on to the next piece.
- The ex-middle school band director who treated the entire band (MDs, high-level professionals, university faculty, public school teachers, ...) as though they were 8th graders.
- The (private) middle school band director who is one of the best conductors I've played under and who runs a New Horizons band.
- The very first band/orchestra director I played for in 6th grade and who -- I swear -- thought he was Napoleon Bonaparte.
- The guy who (a) continually selects one major piece to perform that is multiple levels above the competence of even the best players in the band, and then (b) at every rehearsal, hands out some new piece as well.
- The woman (supposedly trained in voice and percussion) who couldn't tell when people were in tune and when they weren't -- but didn't care and simply selected the most dissonant works she could find since she believed that tuning didn't matter in those.
I won't say that being a community band director is a thankless job (most get paid and they do get thanked and appreciated), but I think it's probably outrageously difficult and stressful on a continuing basis. The good ones are gems to be treasured (and tolerated, as necessary).
Gary Merrill
Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)