They pass through the heavy double doors in a steady trickle. They nod to the night cleaning staff that recognizes them all on sight. Padding into the cavernous band room, they sit down and begin tinkering with their instruments.
A tiny, grandmotherly musician with a crinkled grin stands alongside a drum that is taller than she. A single tap releases an ominous boom. Tuning up is a casual affair on Tuesday nights.
In ones and twos, musicians glide into the silent, semi-darkened main hallway of Annapolis High. Members of the 50-member Bay Winds Band - the Anne Arundel Community Band conducted by longtime Annapolis High music director Michael Svec - are gearing up for a special concert, Sunday at 3 pm., at the Pascal Center for the Performing Arts on the Arnold campus of the Anne Arundel Community College.
The program is family-friendly, appealing to the cultural esthete as well as elementary school youngsters. Expect to hear Broadway classics from "The Sound of Music" and "Music Man," jazz selections, rousing band marches and standout soloists, including a stellar trumpet solo. "Michael is deliberately pulling out things that are less familiar, too," promised the band's president, Mike Stuntz, 56, of Silver Spring.
The public is welcome to attend. Best of all, admission is free and so is parking. Formed in 1980 by Alice Harper, the band's performed for 27 years.
After Ms. Harper, there were four more conductors, including the late Rinaldo Massimino. Mr.
Svec, its sixth conductor, picked up the baton 12 years ago. Alto sax player Jerry Dechter, 76, of Annapolis Cove, has performed with the band for 19 years. A retired pharmacist, he's been playing music since he joined a band in high school.
After that, there was the hot dance band in college and the National Guard Band as a young adult. When he moved to Annapolis from Silver Spring in 1987, he spotted a story about the Maryland Hall Community Band as it was known then, and signed on. "I've played different instruments over the years," he said, "but the love of music brings me back year after year.
The more you play, the better your proficiency." To keep limber, he also plays in the Crabtowne Big Band, an 18-piece group; and the 6-piece jazz ensemble, the Spa Creek Band. "If you can't fight 'em, join 'em!
" is Merle Bodycomb's mantra. Four years ago, the 67-year-old Edgewater resident got tired sitting at home while her husband, Walter, 66, was off playing his trumpet and cornet. He's been a member of the Bay Winds Band for 12 years.
Mrs. Bodycomb works from home, autocad drafting for Free State Electric. Her husband works part-time from home as a software computer programmer.
They needed to get out of the house - together. It isn't just Tuesdays that the Bodycombs are gone. Sunday nights, they practice with the Benfield Brass Band in Severna Park.
Mondays, they're with the Salvation Army's Brass Band in Baltimore - that's when the cornet comes in handy. Wednesdays, the couple hoofs it to Silver Spring to tickle some tunes with the Rockville Brass Band. Thursday nights, they're at the Hilltop Salvation Army with a Brass Ensemble.
When they get bored, there's always a middle or high school play that needs musicians or a church service somewhere. "The rest of the week you're supposed to practice," Mr. Bodycomb joked.
"But, if you're in enough bands, you don't have to practice as much." Mr. Stuntz, a lanky clarinetist with seven years in the band, is a Business section copy editor at the Washington Post.
He graduated from Annapolis High School in 1969. "I put my clarinet down after my second year of college, too," Mr. Stuntz sighed.
"Fourteen years later, I picked it up for a year, then put it down again for 11 years. I regret that. It's so much fun.
I'd have been a much better player if I had kept at it." "Oh no. I enjoy it so much more now," countered Mr.
Bodycomb. Mr. Dechter said jocks from high school turn up at their reunions and they aren't playing football anymore.
"But, I'm still playing and I'm good!" he said. Gingerville resident, Tracey Cogliano, 45, is an accountant at St.
Martin's Lutheran School. A 1980 Annapolis High grad, Ms. Cogliano wore her maroon "Annapolis High Centennial Reunion" T-shirt to practice.
In 1982, she began playing in Bay Winds at age 20. "Ray Ascione, who was also director of the U.S.
Naval Academy Band, asked me to join the new band. I've been here ever since," she smiled. For a fall performance, the group is practicing a piece that was written by Charles A.
Zimmerman, the former Naval Academy bandmaster and composer of 'Anchors Aweigh', said Mr. Stuntz. "It's a symphonic piece transcribed for bands.
We also practice a lot of showpieces. We do things for kicks that we'd never perform. I like that.
" Mr. Dechter said the group is much like a family. "People come and go.
Some members have been professionals and some not," he said. "But, it's like family coming and going. We come in and socialize a little, then we put our cases down and play.
" Finally ready, they begin to play. With eyes closed, the players are no longer in T-shirts, frayed flannel plaids, jeans, topsiders and Uggs. The men are in crisp tuxedos, the women in long flowing dresses.
The music flows, too, in deep, rich, melodic pools of sound that surround the listener. The non-profit all-volunteer band performs concerts in the area throughout the year. Bay Winds, which has members ranging from the 20s through their 70s or older, presents concerts at retirement communities and community centers, at 4th of July in Shady Side and Flag Day at Allen Pond.
Whether skills are finely honed or just a little rusty, players who are interested in joining the band, can join the group during its rehearsals Tuesday evenings, 7:30 p.m. at the high school.
For further information about the band, its concert schedule or details of membership, visit the Web site at Baywindsband.org or call Tim Barnum at 410-421-9522.
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