By Spencer Grant, Special to the Independent
Jennifer Baker, retired music educator, conductor, and co-director of the Laguna Beach Community Concert Band, has a secret.
And she’s not sharing it until Oct. 6.
That’s the night the Laguna Beach Community Concert Band performs at the Laguna Playhouse. It’ll be a notable occasion: the band’s 25th anniversary.
“I’m going to make it a truly special experience,” Baker explained. “But I don’t want to blow the surprise.”
What the Laguna Beach City Council called “a musical treasure of Laguna Beach” started in 1999 with “a cup of coffee and eight members.” It’s now a 50-person group of musicians and friends ranging from college students to octogenarians across Orange County, “from Yorba Linda to San Clemente,” as Baker puts it, who had a dream of bringing free live music to the community. The three founding members – music educator Carol Reynolds, music professor Bill Nichols and flutist Theresa Reynolds – are still with the band. Several former conductors will helm parts of the two-hour performance.
“We play a variety of music,” Baker said. “That’s one of the keys. Everyone who comes to a band concert expects to hear something they’ve heard before and want to hear again.”
Following Baker’s philosophy, the concert will feature new and old favorites from several genres: patriotic tunes, big band music, classical and contemporary selections. The varied program includes highlights from Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” a medley of Gershwin classics led by guest conductor Stan Steele, and Leroy Anderson’s acrobatic “Bugler’s Holiday” featuring Henry Miller, Charles Heiden and Andy Siditsky.
The band will also debut “Strike Up the Band,” a piece they recorded at home during the pandemic to produce a virtual performance. Also noteworthy will be the showing of the six-minute 2016 LCAD student film “The Sock Thief.” The band recorded the music for this animated class project at Capitol Records.
Vocalists Candice Carvalho and Lisa Morrice will accompany the band on “Embraceable You” and “Come Fly with Me,” respectively. Other spotlight performances include “Seal Lullaby,” featuring Donna Huson on piano, and “Root Beer Rag,” featuring the saxophone section and xylophone player Kylie McCaa.
“It’s a difficult problem finding music the band likes and the audience likes,” Band Director Mark Lowery said. “But it seems the audience likes everything we play. They applaud, they clap; you can feel the energy. Often, they wind up singing along to the music.”
“We’re fortunate to have so many talented members, from current and retired music educators and professionals to enthusiastic amateurs,” Baker said. “Some of our members have had an instrument in their hand since they could walk. Others started playing again after decades away. The one thing we all share is our love of music and a desire to share it with our community.”
The band includes many music educators, both retired and active, who come together to play their instruments after work. “Playing keeps us in shape,” Baker said. “but it also gives us a chance to do something we can’t do alone, which is absolutely key to the musical performance, and that is creating something in real time. We all collaborate to perfect a beautiful musical experience for ourselves and our audience.”
So what surprise has Jennifer Baker had in mind to commemorate a quarter century of LCCB’s service to the community? Will there be celebrities? Maybe.
“We have so many notables in our town that it could be anybody,” she teased.
So come to the Laguna Playhouse on Oct. 6 and find out for yourself. But arrive early for the 7 p.m. performance—it’ll definitely be a capacity crowd. And it’s free.
Come one, come all — secret or not, you’ll have a ball.
