Ring in the Christmas season with a free Knoxville Community Band concert Sunday, Dec. 6, sponsored by City of Knoxville Parks and Recreation. 

The concert will be at 3 p.m. at the Bijou Theatre and will feature traditional favorites as well as a variety of familiar holiday tunes performed with a new twist.

The band is directed by Larry Hicks, retired band director of Heritage High School in Blount County. Mark Boring, also retired from the Blount County school system, is the assistant band director.

Boring will conduct several numbers at the concert. Guest conductors, who also are members of the band, are Matthew Waldron, band director at Bearden Middle School, and Fred Wagner, a retired band director from Pennsylvania.

The Knoxville Community Band is comprised of instrumentalists in the community who like to play, and most have been playing since grammar school. Some players are band directors who like to take time out from their own bands to keep in practice on their major instruments, and others are professionals in the community who learned to play in school and don’t want to lose their expertise. All are volunteers, and all play because they love music.

The group plays year round at festivals and other special events and performs a series of outdoor concerts during the summer. New members with expertise on any band instruments are welcome. Practices are from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays at Northwest Middle School. 

Click here for more information about The Knoxville Community Band and their concert series.