A Brief Overview
When they were younger, many now-older adults played in high school and college bands but after graduation, the opportunities to play in group ensemble dwindled and instruments collected dust, until one day band was just a memory. New Horizons was created to give these very adults a second chance to play in a band, and it is just as fun today as it was back then… maybe even better!
The bands play a variety of music and are comprised of musicians with a broad range of skill levels. While participation in the bands is targeted toward senior (50+) musicians as that is the concept of the International New Horizons program, the Madison bands do not restrict participation by age.
The New Horizon Band in Madison is the second oldest band in the country within the New Horizons program. It originated with Ward-Brodt Music Mall’s sponsorship of “Seniors Play Days,” a program held on the business premises on a Thursday and Sunday in October, 1992. Senior citizens were invited to the store to have a cup of coffee and try out any band instrument of their choice. A feature story in a local newspaper announcing the formation of the band prompted about 10 people to join.
The Madison band was originally organized by Bob Swan, who in 1992 was the head of Ward-Brodt Music Mall’s education department. Bob got the band up and running and served as the driving-force and coordinator of the group.
Two weeks after the “Play Days,” the New Horizons Concert Band convened for the first time with 16 members in attendance. Instruction consisted of similar instrument group lessons (for example, sax and clarinet, flute and oboe, and trombone and baritone). Trumpet and percussion groups were taught separately. The instruction materials consisted of the Yamaha Band method and associated books. The teaching staff included three teachers (one brass, one woodwind, and one percussion). The band gave its first concert just before Christmas after only 12 weeks of rehearsals. As the group became more accomplished, additional concerts followed.
In 1994, the band performed a joint concert with a local sixth grade school band, and since then, has performed for many grade school groups, sharing with those young people the timeless joy of music-making. The swing/jazz band program began in the summer of 1994 and has proven to be very popular with both the band members and their audiences.
June of 1994 was the date of the first week-long national New Horizons Band Institute held in Aspen, Colorado. Since then, national institutes have been held at Devil’s Head Resort in Wisconsin, Chautauqua and Lake Placid, New York, and at Palm Springs, California, in conjunction with the National Association of School Music Dealers Convention in February, 1997.
The first “Band Music Weekend” in Bailey’s Harbor (Door County), Wisconsin, was held in September, 1995 and sponsored by the Madison New Horizons Band.
The band’s first director was Grayson Babcock, followed by Bill Payne, and then for many years Peter Ziegler. Peter retired in 2013 and passed the Music Director’s baton to the capable hands of Glenn Nielsen and associate director Pat Dorn. Now in 2021, Mark Saltzman and Kathy Punwar have taken the helm. Thanks to Bob Swan’s early and tireless efforts, the Madison New Horizons Band has flourished!