In unison: Musicians meet for annual reading session

Charles Porter and Dale Pendleton, foreground from left, play with other trombone players during the Open Reading Session sponsored by the Durham Community Concert Band at the Durham Arts Council Saturday. Photo by Beth Velliquette | The Herald-Sun

Not every note was perfect, and sometimes they had to start again, but about 100 people joined together and read and played music Saturday during the annual Open Reading Session at the Durham Arts Council.

The Durham Community Concert Band holds the Open Reading Session at the beginning of each year and invites anyone who plays percussion or wind instruments to come and play.

An open reading session is when people who can read music get together and play music together. Some of the music may be familiar to some of the musicians, but some of it they may have never played before in their lives. But that’s part of the fun.

Tom Shaffer, director of the Durham Community Concert Band, directs the open reading session. Most of the musicians are adults, but a few high school students and even a couple younger than that joined in Saturday’s session.

Ed Cox, who formerly played with the Durham band but now plays with the Village Band in Chapel Hill, says it’s great to play with a large group of people during the open session.

“I’m not an athlete, so I guess this how an athlete must feel playing basketball or football as a team,” he said.

Cox said there are some excellent musicians who show up for the open sessions and it’s a good opportunity to play with them and to play music he wouldn’t normally get to perform.

“This is very difficult music,” he said. “It’s challenging, and this even attracts some of the very best musicians.”

“To get back to the athletic analogy, it’s like going to the NCAA Tournament,” Cox said.

Like many of the other musicians, Cox started playing when he was young and played in his junior high and high school band. He quit playing for quite a while but then ran into an old friend from high school band who told him about the Durham Community Concert Band. He joined and got back to playing again.

Douglas Brame, who plays with the Raleigh Concert Band and the Duke Wind Symphony, has played in the open session for four years.

“You get to see old friends,” he said. “Some of us went to high school together.”

Brame attended Durham High School and played in the band in college.

“This is more like a little festival, a reunion,” he said. “All of us get together and play read-through music.”

“You have to be able to read music, but everyone is welcome,” Brame said. “It’s really a great time.”

Michael Fath is on the board of the Durham Community Concert Band and plays the euphonium, an instrument that looks like a small tuba.

“It’s adult musicians who just love to get together and play music and make friends,” he said.

Shaffer, who has a master’s degree in music but earns his living in real estate, said he and all the other members volunteer their time to the Durham Community Concert Band, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

“This is the most wonderful organization,” he said. “No one has ever had to pay in this group. We’ve never had an audition.”

Any money they receive from sponsors, they pass along to students to attend band camps or to give as monetary awards for youth concerto competitions.

“I’ve been in 10 to 15 groups in my life,” he said. “Sometimes in groups you have people with attitudes or egos, but in this group, we’ve never had that.”

“It’s just a wonderful group of people,” he said.