Ciao! Let me introduce you to one of the finest community bands in Southern Maine: the Italian Heritage Center Concert Band.
Founded in 1988, we provide the opportunity for amateur musicians to enjoy the pleasure of instrumental music. Many of our members had not played for years, but with us have rediscovered the enjoyment of playing in a band.
IHHCB members represent a broad spectrum of backgrounds including nurses, schoolteachers, engineers, housewives, students, and senior citizens. We have a strong sense of community purpose and provide entertainment at nursing and retirement homes, schools and community events, plus concerts at the Italian Heritage Center.
I've been Music Director for this group since 1997 and have seen our membership nearly doubled and the variety and difficulty of music increased significantly. We've taken on several major initiatives, including hosting R.B. Hall Day in 2006, an outreach program to local-area high schools to educate students about community band, and now a cultural exchange trip to Italy in August 2010.
Community Band is a unique musical ensemble and one that I've come to love and champion. With so much of the world focused on professional performance, we provide a place to make music purely for the love of it!
New members are always welcome. There are no auditions or fees. We rehearse weekly from 7:30-9:30pm Wednesdays at the Italian Heritage Center: 40 Westland Ave., Portland.
Whether you are a musician or a spectator, take some time to learn about us; join us for a performance or as a new member!
- Nina K. Oatley, Music Director
Wednesdays 7:15 pm to 9:15 pm
Italian Heritage Center, Portland
Please bring a music stand.
Sunday, May 6 - Time TBA
Italian Heritage Center, Portland
Join us for fabulous movie music from the 1930's to the present. This concert is sure to please.
Wednesday, June 6
Falmouth Elementary School
You'll be amazed at the progress these students made in their first year.
Thursday, June 7
CK Burns Elementary School, Saco
The Band joins forces for the first time with the Saco 5th Grade musicians.
Each summer, the band performs five or six concerts - usually two or three public concerts and three or four events at retirement communities. We'll post our schedule as soon as we have it.
Each year, since 2002, the Band plays a 9/11 benefit concert in honor of the first responders in our community. Details of the 2012 concert will be posted soon.
Our International Band Exchange was a huge success!
Here's an RAI video clip on the August 18, 2011 concert:
Nepi, we love you!
Everything went perfectly. Our 43 Italian friends had a wonderful visit and we made amazing music together. Even the weather cooperated.
The Banda di Nepi concert on Thursday, August 18, 2011 attracted over one thousand people to Fort Allen Park. It was a delightful, magical experience.
The joint concert in Biddeford Pool attracted nearly 300 people and the sound was amazing, with over eighty musicians.
Thank you, everyone
Literally hundreds of people and companies made our time together the best it could be. In particular, we'd like to thank:
- The Alumni Band
- Amato's Italian Sandwich Shop
- Biddeford Pool Community Club
- Casco Bay Lines
- Dimillo's Floating Restaurant
- Friends Of Wood Island Lighthouse
- F. O. Goldthwaite's Grocery
- Freeport Merchants Association
- Greater Portland Landmarks
- Italian Heritage Center
- The Law Offices of Joe Bornstein
- Peter and Eve McPheeters
Return your empty bottles to Clynk at a Hannaford's near you and help the band raise money for the Band Exchange.
Contact Carla for details on how to Clynk for us.
