2026 Updates (from Kathy’s January 2 email)

Our spring semester will be starting this coming Wednesday, Jan 7th. Here are the details for the semester. Please read the entire email and save it to refer to it during the semester.

Rehearsal Place and Time

We will continue to rehearse in the Blake HS band room. **Rehearsals will now be from 7-9pm.** The band room will open at 6:30 for setup. 

Rehearsal Schedule

Rehearsals have been scheduled through the first week of June. Our summer concert schedule is still TBD. I will reserve additional dates in June and July if needed.

Wed Jan 7 - Joan conducting
Wed Jan 14 
Wed Jan 21 
Wed Jan 28 - Joan conducting
Wed Feb 4 - NO REHEARSAL - band room not available
Wed Feb 11
Wed Feb 18
Wed Feb 25
Wed Mar 4 - NO REHEARSAL - band room not available
Wed Mar 11
Wed Mar 18 - Joan conducting 
Wed Mar 25
Wed Apr 1 - NO REHEARSAL - spring break
Wed Apr 8
Wed Apr 15
Wed Apr 22
Wed Apr 29
Wed May 6
Wed May 13 - rehearsal at Howard HS
Wed May 20 - rehearsal at Howard HS
Wed May 27
Wed Jun 3

The address for Howard HS is 8700 Old Annapolis Rd in Columbia.

Attendance

An attendance sheet is posted by the band room door. Please sign in each week. If you have planned absences, please note them on the sheet. If you have an unexpected absence, please email me. It helps to know who will not be attending any given rehearsal as we set up chairs and scrounge stands. If you have an extra folding stand, please consider leaving it in your car so you can grab it if we end up being short.

Dues 

Dues are $40 per semester. If you didn't pay for both semesters in September, please either pay your dues online (www.olneyconcertband.org) or bring a check to rehearsal made out to Olney Concert Band. If paying online, please consider adding a couple of dollars to cover the processing fee charged by our payment service. If you are unsure whether you paid for both semesters in the fall (or if you have not paid your fall dues), please check with Craig Olinger on your status.

Music

Here is a list of the music we will be working on, along with a listening link for each. 

Music folders will be handed out on Jan 7th with some of the music. A link is provided below for you to print out the other music. Check with your section leader for part assignments. Here are links to print "Caccia and Chorale" and "El Gato Montes". A link to print "Block M" will be provided once it is available.

Caccia and Chorale Shared Drive

El Gato Montes Shared Drive

Concert Planning

We will work up music to be prepared to perform in March and then add selections that work better outdoors that we can perform in May-July.

March - We will try to schedule an indoor concert for late March (ideally in one of the Olney area high schools auditoriums).

May 2 & 3 - Olney Days. We will perform both days (weather permitting). "Party in the Park" is on Saturday from 3pm-dark at Olney Manor Park. We will do a one-hour concert in the late afternoon. We can continue to perform as long as we want until the fireworks start at dark, so this is a good opportunity for our chamber groups to perform. The parade is on Sunday afternoon. We will perform before the parade in the old Chevy Chase Bank parking lot from 1:30 until the parade head turns the corner from Georgia Ave to Spartan Rd (around 2:15).

June - Leisure World Clubhouse 1 - we do not have a date yet, but will ask for a date in June, worst case early July.

Strawberry Festival - the festival has been downsized and no longer has a large enough space to accommodate us. I will follow up to see if anything has changed that might allow us to perform there. If not, this might still be a good venue for our chamber groups instead of the whole band.

Maple Lawn (in Howard County) has a community center venue where we could perform. I will follow up with them to see if we can get a date in June (if outdoors) or earlier (if indoors). 

Maryland Community Band Day - last year, this was pretty late in the summer. Hopefully, this year it will be earlier, but I have no details yet.

That's all the news I have for now. Please let me know if you have any questions and I will send out updates.

2025 rehearsal schedule

Wed Nov 12 - rehearsal at Blake HS
Wed Nov 19 - rehearsal at Blake HS
Wed Nov 26 - NO REHEARSAL - Thanksgiving Break
Wed Dec   3 - rehearsal at Howard HS
Wed Dec 10 - NO REHEARSAL - band room is not available

Howard HS is at 8700 Old Annapolis Rd in Columbia.

If you have not already done so, please indicate on the attendance sheet whether or not you will be performing on the Dec 11 concert (or send me an email letting me know.)

James H Blake High School Band Room D148
300 Norwood Road, Silver Spring
Band room opens at 7pm, rehearsal starts at 7:30pm
Rehearsals end at 9:30pm, band room cleared by 10pm

Enter the school from Door 35 to the music wing (not the front doors), which is on the west side of the building, near the gym entrance.To make better use of rehearsal time, we ask that people try to arrive by 7:15 to warm up and self-tune prior to the 7:30 start. At 7:30, we will do a quick tuning check, a couple of warmup exercises, and then launch into rehearsing music.\

Our first concert of the semester is March 30 at Howard High School

Concert music selections along with listening links.

Rehearsal Schedule:

Jan 8
Jan 15
Jan 22
Jan 29
Feb 5
Feb 12 - Cancelled - Snow Closing
Feb 19 - NO OCB, band room not available
Feb 26
Mar 5 - NO OCB - holiday
Mar 12
Mar 19
Mar 26
Apr 2
Apr 9
Apr 16 - NO OCB - spring break
Apr 23
Apr 30 - NO OCB, band room not available
May 7
May 14
May 21 - NO OCB, band room not available
May 28 - NO OCB, band room not available
Jun 4
Jun 11

We will have additional rehearsals in June and July to prepare for Maryland Community Band Day on July 19th, but we are not able to reserve the band room for those dates yet.

March 30 Concert

Our first concert of the semester is March 30 at Howard High School, 8700 Old Annapolis Road, Columbia, MD 21043. The concert will start at 7pm. Call time is 5:30pm, so we have time to run through a couple of pieces with some of Joel's high school students who will be sitting in with us. Concert dress is white shirts, black pants. Stands and chairs will be provided.

Olney Days - May 3 & 4

Olney Days is Sat May 3 (Party in the Park) and Sun May 4 (Parade). We are confirmed for the Sunday parade and still working on the details for Saturday. Both concerts will be outdoors, weather permitting. Concert dress for both will be blue band polo shirts and khaki pants or shorts. You will need to bring a music stand and clips to keep your music from blowing away.

Saturday's Party in the Park runs from 4pm until the fireworks display at dark. Last year, we were scheduled to play at 4pm in the patio of the pool building. While nothing is confirmed yet for 2025, it is likely to be the same plan, so please keep Saturday afternoon open.

Our pre-parade concert will be on Sunday, May 4th starting at 1:30 and will continue until the front of the parade makes it to the reviewing stand (approx. 45-60 minutes total). The location is the same as past years, in the parking lot of the old Capital One Bank building at the corner of Georgia Ave and Spartan Rd. Call time is 1pm. This location is in full sun, so also plan on sun protection.

Strawberry Festival - June 7

The Sandy Spring Museum is revamping their festival since past festivals have outgrown what the volunteer staff can handle. It is now a one-day event, but they are still including us in their plans. The festival is Saturday, June 7 from 10 am - 5 pm. We will play from 10:00-10:45 on the grass in front of the main stage (weather permitting). Call time is 9:30, but you should plan to arrive at 9am to allow time to get from the parking lot to the stage and get set up. 

Parking is in the Sherwood High School parking lot across Rt 108 from the museum. Police will manage a pedestrian crosswalk to help you get across Rt 108 safely. Tell the people at the check-in table that you are with the band and you will be given free entry. If you plan to play that concert and have mobility issues, let me know and I will see what options are available for dropping you and your instrument closer to the main stage.

Concert dress is blue band polo shirt and khaki pants or shorts. You will need to bring a music stand and clips. We will have to quickly vacate the area in front of the stage when we finish playing. The next group will start performing at 11am. We can use the area behind the main stage to store cases and pack up after the concert. You are then welcome to stay and enjoy the rest of the festival.

Other concerts that are not confirmed yet

We are still working to schedule an indoor concert in Leisure World Clubhouse One. I have asked for a Weds evening in June or early July but might have to consider other days of the week if those dates aren't available.

Maryland Community Band Day is Sat July 19 at Oregon Ridge. The bands to perform have not been selected yet. We have submitted our application and should hear if we have been selected sometime in March.

Black Rock in Germantown would like us to come back. We will schedule a date with them as soon as we have a Leisure World date locked down.

Concert Attire

Spring and summer concert dress is a light blue band polo shirt and khaki pants. If you are new to the band and do not have a shirt yet, I have attached ordering information.

Ordering a Blue Band Polo Shirt

Order Instructions

Above are ordering instructions for anyone who doesn't already have a polo shirt. It takes 3-4 weeks for the shirt to come in, so please don't wait too long to order yours. 

Dues

Dues is $30/semester or $60/year. If you have not already paid for the spring semester, please either give Craig Olinger a check made out to Olney Concert Band or pay online at our website: olneyconcertband.org. Also, see Craig if you can't remember if you paid already.

Pay your dues online.