After spending a concert season or more playing with the three area concert bands, I thought it would be nice to write about these three organizations. 

It truly was a wonderful experience playing with musicians from across a wide swath of southern Ontario. Together, these three bands draw members from the Windsor area through Chatham-Kent and across Sarnia–Lambton. 

As community bands, they feature a wonderful mix of local musicians. There are many older players who have renewed their love of concert band music, often abandoned after graduating from high school. 

Some musicians never stopped playing, while others left their horn behind for decades. There is even a sprinkling of professional or semi-professional musicians in the ranks. 

The only band with a significant youth component is the Lambton Concert Band, due in no small part to the efforts of music teacher Chitra Dath and her powerhouse music program at Great Lakes Secondary School. 

The constant across all three ensembles is the joy the musicians get from playing, and the freedom with which........

© Sarnia Observer