Ringing In the Holidays
It wouldn’t feel like the holiday season without some traditional music to accompany the lights, tinsel, and trees. The Tippecanoe Community Band has been making music since 1980 under the direction of Gail Ahmed. The band currently has 60 members, most from Miami County, but there are also members from the surrounding area. The Tippecanoe Gazette recently sat down with Ahmed to talk about the band.
“It’s been an all-volunteer group from the very beginning,” she said. “We do have a well-rounded group, which is pretty amazing for instrumentation. We have people who have not played their instruments for years and others who play regularly. We’re under the umbrella of Tipp Monroe Community Services, and we wouldn’t be here if not for them. I remember when we started, the person in charge approached me and said, ‘Hey, we’re thinking of starting a community band. Would you like to be the director?’ When we did our first concert, we had 15 or 20 members.”
The band schedules at least four concerts annually, one during each season, in addition to other community functions. This year, they have three Christmas performances planned. The theme is “Ringing in the Holidays.”
“This past Spring, we got a set of orchestra bells and chimes,” Ahmed said. “Those two new instruments were added to the group, so we’re going to feature them. Ringing in the Holidays will be the theme for all three concerts. We’ll do traditional carols, some sing-along, and some fun pieces, like The Grinch. This year, we’ll have a Sing-along with Santa. Our selections will include anything that features bells to ring in the holidays.”
She revealed that in addition to Santa, there will be a special guest performer. “Roy Pyle is going to be singing a couple of pieces with us. Roy is a retired music educator from Vandalia. He also sings for the Generations Big Band in the area; some of our members play in that group. He’s one of their vocalists. I told Roy he’d probably have to wear a Santa hat. As far as I know, he’ll be singing a couple of selections with us, probably Silver Bells and White Christmas.”
The band calls the Tipp Center on N. Third Street their home. They rehearse there every Monday evening. “We have four concerts at the Tipp Center, one each season, then we do some concerts in the community,” Ahmed said. “We’ve been playing over at New Carlisle as part of their concert season. We’ll do some other things in the area if there are requests, like the Tour of Homes as part of Tippecanoe and Christmas Too. We used to play in a lot of nursing homes, but the group is too large now. When we had 25 or 30 members, you could fit them in, but not now.”
After 44 years at the podium, Ahmed admits there have been some noteworthy performances. “One that really stands out for me was when we played at a Christmas concert in the Dayton Arcade. That was special. The other one that was very memorable was a concert we played when the new high school was built, and they were holding a fundraiser. Steven Reineke, who was the director of the New York Pops, came in to conduct. That was very special because he conducted one of his composed pieces.”
When all is said and done, the music is the thing, along with the sense of community bonding that should accompany the holidays.
“It’s about bringing the community together, enjoying this special time of year with the music, and having people sing along with us. The Tipp Center always has a really nice reception following our Christmas program. It’s just giving something back to the community. People think of the band as a musical family.”
The Tippecanoe Community Band’s holiday performances are on December 6 at the Tipp Center (855 N. Third St), December 8 at First United Church of Christ (120 South Market Street, Troy), and December 15 at Piqua Baptist Church (1402 High Street, Piqua). Each performance is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. For more information, visit their Facebook page.