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A message from the Hot Springs Concert Band...The Hot Springs Concert Band started off the 2024-2025 concert season with its Autumn Concert on Sunday, October 13, in the Woodlands Auditorium in Hot Springs Village. And what better a place and what better a sponsor than Community First Trust! For over 30 years, the band has called the Woodlands home to its Village concerts and especially its Village friends and others in the Hot Springs area who love and appreciate the great music of the band and the pleasant humor of its leader. Only now, the band has a new leader with the talent and the humor to keep the band moving forward and bringing the audience along in the musical journeys we enjoy and look forward to. Mr. Jim Lloyd stepped up to the podium, and from the downbeat of the “Star Spangled Banner” to the final note of “Pink Lemonade,” it was artistic, captivating and fun. In his first official concert as the band's Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, Jim came through with what audiences have come to expect from the Hot Springs Concert Band for decades. What better way to usher in the band’s 50th season of making music! This 50th season will see the band perform a minimum of seven concerts, with one outdoor concert on Memorial Day. As it stands now, four concerts will be in Hot Springs Village and three in Hot Springs. Venues and dates will be updated on this website when they are finalized. You are encouraged to visit this site as information and features are constantly changing. One change is the addition of Mr. Claude Smith as Executive Director for the Band. Mr. Smith is one of the band’s French horn players and an associate conductor. While the Executive Director is a new leadership position, the need for it is not new. Essentially, this position will consolidate duties which the band’s music director and volunteers have had to cover with limited knowledge, time and resources. Mr. Smith, with his vast experience and unique skill set, will fill the gap in various areas of need, including securing sponsorships. One additional date the band will be playing is Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Fort Smith. The Association of Concert Bands has invited the HSCB to play at its annual convention, which is quite an honor. All bands playing at this convention were required to submit audio recordings of three performances to be evaluated by convention officials to determine eligibility. Fortunately, the HSCB passed muster and was invited to perform. The band is looking forward to this opportunity and has already received a generous donation toward expenses for the trip. For now, the band is preparing for the annual Christmas Concert on Thursday, December 12, at 7 p.m. at the Woodlands. Tickets are now on sale. Typically, this is a sold-out concert, so folks are encouraged to purchase tickets as soon as possible. Tickets are $15 at the following locations: members of the Hot Springs Concert Band, members of the Kiwanis Club of Hot Springs Village, the Woodlands Auditorium Box Office between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. weekdays (501-922-4231), and through https://hotspringsvillage.thundertix.com/. |
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