The Knoxville Community Band will give a free Christmas concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, December 11, in the auditorium at the Knoxville Convention Center.

Music will include all the traditional favorites - "Jingle Bells," "Good King Wenceslas," "Silent Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful" as well as some surprising arrangements of other familiar Christmas songs.

"Christmas Music for Winds" is a symphonic scenario combining traditional carols and non-secular familiar songs. "Babes in Toyland" is from the Walt Disney motion picture based on Victor Herbert's operetta. And "A Canadian Brass Christmas Suite," adapted for band by Calvin Custer, is a selection of Christmas songs from the repertoire of the world famous brass quintet.

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 band is sponsored by the Knoxville Parks and Recreation Department. 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 on Pleasant Ridge Road.