JACKSON, Wyo. – Teton Music School is launching two new concert bands: a daytime Concert Band for students in grades 5 to 7 and Concert Band 55, designed for adults 55+ but open to adults of all ages. Both are eight-week courses taught by Cheryl DeLong, now assistant conductor of Jackson Hole Community Band, which is partnering in the program.
Both begin with an “Instrument Try-Day” on Sep. 30 adults are welcome from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., and youth are welcome from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. New musicians can try flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone and percussion with DeLong’s guidance, while returning players can bring an old instrument to see if it is still playable. Mountain Music of Afton will be on hand with rental instruments for students who need one. Younger siblings are welcome at the youth Try-Day, although enrollment in Concert Band is for students in grades 5 to 7.
Sept. 30 is also the registration deadline for both courses. The eight weeks of classes begin Oct. 21 and run through Dec. 16.
Registration closes September 30. Tuition for the youth Concert Band is $225, and scholarships are available. Thanks to support from a Wyoming Arts Council Creative Aging grant, Concert Band 55 is offered on a pay-what-you-can basis, with suggested tuition of $180. Course details and registration are available at tetonmusicschool.org or (307)201-1908.
The idea for an adult Concert Band grew out of a partnership with Jackson Hole Community Band. The community band welcomes musicians with a wide range of experience, but joining an established ensemble can be a big leap for someone whose trumpet or clarinet hasn’t been out of its case in decades.
After 35 years teaching school band, DeLong knows what it looks like when someone tries to make a sound on a clarinet for the first time. She also knows what it looks like when someone picks one up again after 30 or 40 years.
DeLong will help returning musicians get their embouchure working again, remember fingerings and music reading, and rebuild the experience of playing as part of an ensemble. Absolute beginners are welcome, too, including adults who have always wanted to learn a brass or woodwind instrument.
The course ends December 16. Adults who want to keep going and feel ready can then rehearse with Jackson Hole Community Band and join the ensemble for a combined piece at its Dec. 20 holiday concert.
The youth Concert Band starts closer to the beginning. No previous experience is required, giving students in grades 5 to 7 a chance to choose an instrument, learn the fundamentals, and begin playing as an ensemble. The final class on Dec.16 will include an informal sharing of what students have learned.
TMS has already seen the value of giving younger students an earlier opportunity to begin through After the Bell Strings, its program for fourth and fifth graders. The new Concert Band opens a similar opportunity for students interested in brass and woodwinds.
This first session also reveals one of the challenges of TMS’s recent growth: its teaching rooms are now full during after-school hours. With no room available for another ensemble after school, the youth band will meet Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., making homeschool students the primary audience this fall. TMS hopes to expand access if additional space becomes available.
DeLong may have retired from a 35-year school district career, but hardly from her musical life. She continues to perform, direct, and teach. For example she is also teaching TMS’s Adventures in Sound class for grades 1 to 2. Her invitation to new band students is simple: “You do not need to be good at this already!”
Teton Music School is Jackson’s nonprofit community music school, located in The Center for the Arts and providing music education for people of all ages since 2019.
