Headline News

Orangeville Community Band celebrates 20 years with free fall concert

October 15, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Joshua Drakes

The Orangeville Community Band will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a free fall concert, inviting residents to enjoy a live performance while marking two decades of bringing music to the community.

The concert will take place at New Hope Community Church on Oct. 24 at 3 p.m., where the volunteer band regularly performs its seasonal concerts. The group is making the anniversary performance free to attend, a change from its usual admission fee of approximately $30.

Ron Layton, a member of the band’s board of directors, said the organization has sufficient funding to support its activities this year, allowing it to offer the concert to the public at no cost.

“Right now, we have fairly sufficient funds to run through the year, and that’s actually why we’ve decided for our 20th year to promote ourselves and say it’s free,” he said. “We normally charge anywhere from $30 per concert at New Hope Church, and with that money, we always split the money with the New Hope people.”

The band, which has approximately 50 members, is made up largely of musicians who have returned to playing after spending years away from their instruments while raising families and pursuing careers.

Members range in age, bringing together musicians with different backgrounds and levels of experience.

Throughout the year, the band performs at local schools, presents spring and Christmas concerts at New Hope Community Church, and participates in Orangeville’s annual jazz festival, typically held in late May or early June.

For this year’s fall concert, the group has prepared a varied program of traditional band music, including “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Lord of the Dance,” “Pride and Joy,” and “Wolves of Alaska.”

In addition to its public performance, the band plans to visit a local retirement residence for a rehearsal-style performance in the days leading up to the concert, extending its anniversary celebrations to more members of the community.

“This year, instead of practicing the Thursday before the fall concert, we are going to actually practice over at the Chartwell Montgomery Village Retirement Residence,” Layton said. “It’s a very big building, and we’ve arranged with them to do our practice, if you will, a get ready concert, with them.”

As a registered charitable, non-profit organization, the band relies on donations to cover expenses such as new sheet music, insurance and other operating costs. Layton helps collect donations from local supporters to keep the organization running.

After 20 years of bringing musicians together and performing for local audiences, the anniversary concert offers residents an opportunity to experience the band’s work and celebrate its continued place in Orangeville’s community arts scene.

Readers Comments (0)