The Carroll County Community Band will present its annual Christmas concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, at Berryville High School’s Performing Arts Center.
The band is composed of adult and student musicians who rehearse on Monday evenings in the Berryville High School band room.
“We have players coming as far away as Branson and Bella Vista,” said conductor Jim Swiggart, who said the band includes more than 70 musicians.
The band performs two concerts a year — one in the spring and one in December — and funds raised through the events are used to help send local students to summer band camps.
“That’s when you change a person’s life,” Swiggart said. “They get into a new environment and all of a sudden, they are really at a high level. They want to go back home, they bring those experiences back and it heightens the level of everybody in the school system. So we’re a very important element in music education for adults, and for students.”
Swiggart said the concert will feature a wide variety of music.
“Of course, we’ll have some Christmas music on this particular concert,” he said. “We always highlight our veterans and veterans and their families are invited to come to the concert free.”
Swiggart said the band is very appreciative of local businesses that buy advertising in the program.
“That money is very important toward raising the money for the kids,” he said.
Swiggart said the band has virtually no expenses, since the music is borrowed from local band programs and the Bella Vista Community Band.
“I’m one of the conductors in Bella Vista,” Swiggart said. “We have a summer program that has concerts in the summer and a huge library, so we don’t have any expenses. All we have to do is just take care of getting the music printed off, making up enough folders and bringing people together. And it’s just an incredible experience for everybody involved.”
Tickets to the concert can be purchased from band members, Swiggart said.
“We try to get people to come in early,” he said. “Doors open at 2:30, and we want to sell as many tickets ahead of time as we can so that nobody has to stand in a long line.”
